


Fraternizing With The Enemy

by Homunculi



Category: League of Legends RPF
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Explicit Language, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Hanahaki Disease, Inspired by shyv2rxrxr (hexburn), M/M, Pining, Slow Build, Will add tags as I go, dubious situations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:41:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 29,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26226577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homunculi/pseuds/Homunculi
Summary: After an extremely successful year with G2 in 2019, one would think Caps had confidently moved on from his past with Fnatic. But one member in particular was still haunting him.
Relationships: Martin "Rekkles" Larsson/Rasmus "Caps" Winther
Comments: 121
Kudos: 112





	1. Omen

**Author's Note:**

> Hello to the whole 2 ppl who might even read this.   
> Here is some purely self-indulgent LoL RPF nonsense. I feel like I have reached new lows, but I am not ashamed. I'm also sorry in advance, but this probably isn't going to be edited at all.   
> This is inspired by shyv2rxrxr (hexburn)'s LEC hanahaki series. I particularly enjoyed the Broxah/Rekkles one.

February had just begun and the 2020 LEC Spring split was well underway. It was finally time for their first fateful matchup, the one Rasmus had been simultaneously dreading and also excitedly anticipating. Hell, he even upped the stakes for himself by making the bold switch to ADC this season, literally putting himself head to head with his old team captain - Rekkles. Did he do this on purpose or was it a coincidence? Well, it was kind of both, if G2 was open to experimentation, Caps wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity for a little fun. It was a chance to grow, but even more of a chance to prove himself to the person he found himself most frequently at odds with on his former team. Afterall, he had already more than proven his decision to leave Fnatic was a worthy one based on his run with G2 in 2019. Although actually  _ winning  _ world’s would’ve made the victory that much sweeter. 

On a team, synergy matters -both on the rift and off. That’s what Rasmus came to find. Bursting onto the big timers’ scene with Fnatic might have been his big break, but it wasn’t his calling. It was hard, leaving suddenly, without much warning. It felt like he made the decision and the waves just carried him away. By now the rest was history. But there was some history that just kept getting washed back ashore, no matter how far he tried to throw it back out to sea.

Needless to say, he left Fnatic on less than ideal terms, and there was definitely some unfinished business. Even though a year had already passed, and his previous teammates had since agreed and reconciled their “internal issues”, that underlying tension, the grudges - he knew they were still there. And all the intense rivalry between these two famous teams only served to fan that flame. Among all his former teammates, most of them were fine, amicable, still kept in touch. But Rekkles remained relatively distant since his sudden departure, like he somehow still felt betrayed or took it personally. 

_ Well, maybe he should have, in a way,  _ Caps would often think to himself. It helped him reassure himself, move on. You can’t make everyone happy. It’s a losing game. That’s not to say he thought Martin was a bad guy, quite the opposite actually. But he rarely hid the fact that he could be sensitive, even openly crying on stage a handful of times throughout his career. That was something Rasmus particularly admired about his former leader, that ability to be so vulnerable in such a public space. 

The problem was more like the kind you have when your personality just naturally clashes with someone else’s. Rekkles was so stoic half the time, and always tried to play into his role as the team captain. Caps was expressive, and not afraid to speak his mind, even if it went against what Martin thought. Maybe it was the way he pushed back, and challenged him for fresh perspective when it came to the game. Maybe it was the way Rasmus always slept in, never made his bed, rarely put effort into his appearance, while Martin seemed to keep on top of everything. Two very different identities existing in such close quarters at all times, some buttons were bound to be pushed. So much so that it was practically a meme how much Caps tilted Rekkles. Even if everything appeared more or less copasetic between them. 

In fact, even though Caps could tell things were going less than swimmingly while he was on Fnatic, encouraging him to make that leap and move on, it only became that much clearer once he settled into his position with G2. He quickly found it to be the meme team of his dreams. Everyone got along so naturally. It wasn’t just a drill on teamwork, or a forced smile for the camera on content day. They all just had a good time together, plain and simple. And the atmosphere was so light in comparison to all of the pressure he felt back in the Fnatic house. It was a much needed weight off of his shoulders. Yet still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. Like he left a part of him behind with his old team.

These pervasive thoughts had been plaguing him increasingly now, especially about Rekkles, he found himself reminiscing about his old ADC more and more, but he chalked it up to the anticipation of their upcoming matchup, and all of the hype and rivalry surrounding it. But just like that, before he had too much time to linger on it, they were in their game room, setting up their stations, preparing to go ahead to head against Fnatic. Webcams trained on their focused faces, as G2 played tried and true, winning against Fnatic predictably just as they had throughout 2019. 

Later in his spare time, Rasmus went back to watch the VOD of their match, if not just to see the expressions of his former colleagues. Getting a little too riled up at the sight of Martin, he closed the browser, exhaling heavily as he rolled his gaming chair backwards to get up and walk over to his bed. As he collapsed backwards atop his unkempt bedspread, a strange sensation overtook him. His ribs hit the mattress with an uncomfortable heaviness, and he momentarily felt like the wind had been knocked from his lungs. He quickly sat up, and took a few bated breaths to regain his composure.  _ Nothing, it was probably nothing.  _

Later that same night as the team celebrated together over dinner, he noted it again. That strange breathlessness that briefly overcame as he chuckled at a joke Jankos made about the legendary ADC Rekkles losing to Caps in his first pro run as carry. He took a sip of water and waited it out, trying to prevent the panic from becoming evident on his face. Perkz rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you ok?”

“I- erm,” he paused to clear his throat, “I’m fine.”

“Oh shit, boys! Look out, Caps has The Rona,” Luka laughed.

Rasmus chuckled and nudged him roughly in response, shrugging off the thought that it even could be the virus. The next couple of weeks went on more or less the same, with the exception that the shortness of breath had turned into intermittent coughing fits. For the peace of mind, he had gotten tested for Covid-19, and was luckily negative. But that only left him with more questions. His teammates were concerned, but he always kept his head up and tried not to show how much the condition was actually bothering him. 

It all came to a head one night when he ran into Rekkles by chance in solo queue, and got a surprise discord call from the ADC. He found himself reluctant to answer, but did anyways.

“Solo queueing off-role? Naughty, naughty. Don’t tell me you’ve only been practicing midlaner all this time and I still lost to you as ADC,” Martin laughed.

Rasmus laughed despite himself.

“No, no. It’s just a coincidence, I swear.”

“It was a good game, though. I’m...uh, still glad that things are going so well for you with G2. Just wish we could’ve had that kind of amazing run together, ya know,” Rekkles congratulated softly.

Suddenly Caps was overcome with an unignorable coughing fit. He quickly took off his headset, but the loud hacks were still audible to Martin. 

“Hello? Rasmus? Are you alright?”

It felt like he was coughing forever, even though it was probably just a matter of about a minute. Finally the itch in his throat subsided, as he felt something soft and smooth hit the back of his mouth with the final heave of his chest. The taste of iron coated his tongue. Rekkles could barely hear a muffled, “what the fuck” echo in the mic. A single red rose petal. He held it gingerly with his thumb and index finger, eyeing it suspiciously like this was something out of a dream. But he had to get back to the game before he got kicked, so he set the petal aside on his desk and picked up the headset, getting back onto the rift. 

“Martin,” he called out, voice hoarse and weak.

“Yeah, I’m still here. Are you good?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“You should really get professional help,” Rekkles laughed, “but seriously that sounded really bad. Like boosted Corona or something.”

Caps smiled to himself, although he couldn’t deny his growing concern.

“I guess I can see a doctor or something,” he trailed off, concentrating on the game.

  
After their game, he quickly took to the internet, researching the odd symptom. The only thing he could find, all signs were pointing to something he had never heard of before.  _ Hanahaki. _ Apparently cases were rare in the west, it’s more endemic in parts of Asia like Korea.  _ Is it something I could’ve picked up at one of our Korean bootcamps,  _ he wondered, as he looked around WebMD for the cause.  _ Oh, so it’s not contagious then. Good, at least, but how did I... _ His eyes widened as he read the information. “Caused by unrequited love”.  _ That’s ridiculous. What does that even mean? This can’t actually be a real thing, can it?  _


	2. Slump of the Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a rough week for G2 and Caps.  
> He's bought some time to dig himself out of the hole he's in.  
> But how much time?

Rasmus decided that this mysterious ailment was getting out of hand. It was already enough of a struggle to not let it interfere with their games, stifling to choke down his coughs during matchups. If it got any worse, he didn’t know how much longer he could hide it. He had to see a physician. The next morning he lazily rolled out of bed, and grabbed the petal that he’d left on his desk to take for reference. Foregoing his favorite morning pick-me-up of freshly squeezed orange juice, he instead got dressed and headed straight to the nearest clinic. 

“So, tell me a little bit about what’s going on,” the friendly doctor said as he sat in the chair across from him.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the bloodstained petal, holding it out in his palm. 

“This, doctor. I coughed it up last night. I don’t know how something like this can be possible.”

“Hmmmmm. And how long has this been going on for?”

“The coughing and shortness of breath have been going on for about a month now, getting increasingly worse, but the flower...it was the first time last night.”

“Well, it was originally considered very rare in these parts, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions. Although, I have been seeing a dramatic increase in cases like this in recent years. It looks like you’re presenting with the classic symptoms of hanahaki disease, young man.”

“You can’t be serious, right? I saw something about that online. It’s a myth, no?”

“Unfortunately, it is very real. But the good news is, it is curable.”

“How?”

“The decision is yours. The least invasive approach would be for you to try to face your feelings, and be forthcoming with the person you love. See if there is a possibility for a resolution there. Otherwise, we have to go in and surgically remove the disease.”

“But I don’t even think I’m interested in anybody. This can’t be right,” Caps answered, face riddled with incredulity. 

“Sometimes love isn’t always as evident as everyone makes it out to be. Give it some thought. In the meantime, I’ll prescribe you some medicine to help quell the pain and the cough, but it won’t fix you completely, and it won’t stop those flowers from coming up. Believe me, there will be more where that came from,” the doctor said, nodding to the petal in his hand pointedly.

“Ok. I guess we can start there for now,” Rasmus agreed defeatedly, praying that at least until he could get the surgery, the meds would help keep him in the game. There was too much at stake right now, and no time for a surgery. Who even knows how long a recovery like that would take? Let alone the inevitably backlogged hospital waitlists right now with Covid and all.

\----------------

Martin found himself a little less focused than usual as he sat down at his desk for scrims. Ever since that discord call, which was almost a week ago at this point, he couldn't help but worry about his ex-midlaner. Hell, he couldn’t even see him, but the sound alone was enough to guess that Rasmus was in pretty bad shape. Since then, he religiously tuned in to G2’s live games, each time finding himself conflicted between feelings of relief that Caps at least  _ appeared _ okay, and mounting dread that he and his team would be going up against them again soon - fingers crossed that they could even the score this time around. 

It felt like a losing battle sometimes. Fnatic has always played with the pressure to uphold their reigning champion status, but now that pressure had shifted into something less lofty. It felt like they were at risk of being overshadowed by even more competition than just G2 Esports after their placement in Spring 2019. But they were slowly but surely clawing their way back up to first seed since then, at least Martin tried to see it this way, as hard as it was for the perfectionist in him to accept being second best. He tried to see the opportunity for growth that couldn’t otherwise be achieved if you were locked in as number 1 forever. 

_ Maybe I should just call him, so I can quit distracting myself, _ he thought as he idly TP’d back to base, mind only halfway engaged in the game. The team finished out their match, and he excused himself, slinking off to his room to be alone. It wasn’t anything new for Rekkles, minus the fact he was sitting out on valuable practice time, but everyone has off days. And it was rare for anyone to question him. He scrolled through the contacts in his phone and hovered over Caps for a moment before deciding to make a video call. Something he generally didn’t do, but it seemed appropriate considering the circumstance.  _ But then again, maybe a good friend would’ve actually gone the distance to see him in person, _ he thought. 

Caps’ weary eyes widened ever so slightly when he checked his vibrating phone to see none other than Rekkles trying to video chat with him.  _ Some kind of buttdial, maybe? _ He muted the stream he was watching and answered, trying to ignore the unwelcome nervousness that overcame him whenever he spoke to Martin. He opted not to turn on the video feed from his end, leaving Rekkles hanging. 

“Come on, man. Seriously,” he laughed softly, “you’re really gonna do that to me? I called  _ specifically _ because I wanted to see you.”

Rasmus' body shivered at the tone of his voice, or maybe those were just fever chills?

“Me? Why,” Caps asked skeptically, “you can see my pretty face anytime you want on VODS.”

Rasmus felt more flushed than usual as a small smirk spread across Martin’s face at his smart remark.

“Maybe the VODs just aren’t enough for me. They never linger on you for long enough. If you’re in bed with Perkz, you can just tell me. Although, I will be a little salty, can’t lie,” he joked.

Rasmus groaned in protest, but begrudgingly turned on his camera.

“You happy?”

“Poggers.”

He marveled at the way Martin’s eyes lit up and his eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. He found himself wondering if he had always paid so much attention to these simple things. 

“I wanted to check on you, after last week…”

“I mean, I’ve been better. But I’ll be fine,” Rasmus ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed.

“You guys just lost both your matches this week. I mean...Misfits _ and  _ Schalke? You’re either lying to me, or switching to ADC was a bad idea,” he jested, trying to coax some honesty out of Rasmus. 

“That's definitely the reason, I’m a shitty ADC. Looking to retire and become a coach yet? I could really use you,” Caps smiled weakly, rolling his eyes. 

“Did you at least go to-”

Martin cut himself short as his eyes narrowed, trying to focus on his phone screen. 

“Is that - blood, Rasmus?”

Rasmus looked behind him at his pillow, the bloodstains from his nighttime coughing fits stood starkly against the off-white pillowcase. 

“Oh….that? Um, nosebleeds. I had a bad one last night. Don’t worry about it,” he cleared his throat, the urge to cough bubbling up. He looked down at the bin full of bloody tissues and flower petals at his bedside, unable to look his old friend in the eyes while he gave such a blatant excuse.

“Yeah, right,” Rekkles replied, obviously unconvinced, “well if you don’t bring your A-game to your next match, I’m gonna have to launch an intervention.”

“I’ll stomp them single handedly if I have to. I’ll do it for you,” Caps winked.

Martin flashed his stereotypically charming smile.

“Okay, I’ll be cheering for you. Take care of yourself, man. I’ll talk to you later,” he waved before ending the call.

Rasmus felt empty as the screen went black. For a second he caught his own pitiful reflection in his phone, and forcefully shoved it across his bed. He knew he wasn’t kidding anyone. The worst part was, beyond lying about how sick he was - not only to Martin, but to his whole team as well, he was also lying to himself about all the realizations he’s been forced to come to recently. Everytime he searched for the root of his disease, it always led him back to the same place - Rekkles. And at this point, these two lies were so deeply intertwined that if he came clean about one of them, he would risk exposing the  _ whole  _ truth. The thought made him feel even more sick than he actually was.

It’s a known fact, the Pro League scene is rife with bromance. A bunch of dudes living in a house together, basically  _ all the time _ \- of course they joke around like guys do, form close friendships. It’s all part and parcel. But does it ever really cross that line? A lot of them on the inside even wondered that themselves. And Rasmus would be willing to bet that most of the players wouldn’t turn down a night with cosplay Sneaky if he ever gave them half a chance. The idea of Esports is progressive in itself, but the community? It was questionable how it might be received. 

  
Either way, something had to be done, and fast. But he was gonna have to be discrete, and he knew the perfect person. Mikyx. Yup, there he was, standing at the door of his support’s room, expecting him to be -  _ well  _ supportive. Go figure. 


	3. Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caps confides in Mikyx.  
> AKA boys being soft - Well, maybe only a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for reading! Be me trying to research and catch up on all the shit that's been happening in EU since I only watch trash NA. Gamepedia has been my new best friend. Lol.

“Mihael?” 

Caps knocked on his bedroom door quietly.

No answer.

He knocked again, this time a little more impatiently. 

Silence.

“Okay, I’m coming in. You’ve been warned.”

Rasmus burst into the room, only to find Mikyx huddled up in his computer chair, knees pulled up to his chest, blanket draped around his shoulders and his headset on. The support was clearly wrapped up in some kind of show, if Caps knew better he would guess it was anime. He walked up behind the still oblivious Mihael and swiveled him around in his chair. He expected his teammate to be at least a little bit surprised by this, but instead, Caps was the one to be shocked. Behind Mikyx’s glasses, he could see pools of tears sparkling in his eyes. 

“Mihael, what the -?”

Caps glanced up at his monitor, momentarily concerned before letting out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head as he looked back down at the floor. It was Code Geass, of course. And he knew damn well this must’ve been  _ at least  _ the tenth time he’s watched the show through.

“This part is so fucking sad, man. It gets me every time,” Mikyx sniffled as he pulled off his headset and rubbed the dampness from his lashes with the corner of his blanket.

“You need a better hobby,” Rasmus smirked, making himself at home on his housemate’s bed.

“Says the boy who’s also been hiding in his room every spare chance he gets. And you don’t even watch anime, so who knows what the hell you’re doing in there,” he joked, regaining his composure, “probably fapping or something.”

“At least I don’t fap to hentai, Miky-Sama,” Caps stuck out his tongue playfully.

Jankos could be heard screaming in Polish from his room down the hall. They both looked at each other knowingly and broke into laughter. That is until Caps’ laugh slowly descended into another one of his coughing fits. The same sound that had been interrupting his team’s sleep for weeks now. He weakly covered his mouth with a wad of kleenex. 

“I thought you went to the doctor. Why aren’t you better yet?”

“That’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Okay, I’m listening,” he eyed the ADC expectantly.

“Have you -” he struggled to get it out, “have you ever heard of a sickness called hanahaki disease?”

“I mean, yeah. I’ve seen it in an anime once, pretty tragic,” Mikyx answered casually.

“I’m not talking about your weeb shit, Miky. I’m talking about real life,” Caps sighed.

“It’s not really _real_ , is it? Come on Caps, quit trolling.”

“That was exactly my reaction when the doctor diagnosed me. I don’t know what to do,” Rasmus’ voice cracked as he held out the tissues full of bloody petals he had just coughed up moments before.

The support stared at the evidence in pure disbelief. There was a combination of feelings overwhelming him, something like disgust and horror mixed with concern and panic.

“Why haven’t you told anyone? We’re a team, we’re here to help you. We’ve gotta make this right, Rasmus. Whatever it is, don’t worry about it. If you need an operation, the season can go fuck itself, your health is more important.”

“No, no! You don’t get it. First of all, I’m not willing to throw the season. It’s not even an option, so don’t say that. Second of all, you said you saw it in a show. Do you remember what happened?”

Mikyx thought in silence for a moment, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember the plot.

“The one with hanahaki was in love with someone who didn’t love her back or something like that, but when he finally noticed her and returned her feelings, the affliction was cured.”

“If only real life were that simple,” Caps ran a hand through his hair, looking completely at a loss.

“Who do you have feelings for? I mean, you have a whole squad of guys here to be your wingmen. We can at least try,” he offered encouragingly.

“I don’t feel comfortable saying who it is yet.”

“You can’t tell me all of this and not say who it is! We all have crushes at some point, just spit it out. It’s really not a big deal.”

“If I tell you, you have to promise me two things.”

“Alright, sure,” Mihael nodded.

“You can’t tell  _ anyone  _ about  _ any _ of this. Not the disease, not the crush. And second, you have to promise you won’t judge me.”

“Weebs don’t judge,” he grinned, only earning a stern glare from Caps.

“Ok, okay. I’m being serious. I won’t tell and I won’t judge. You can trust me.”

After a long, awkward moment of quiet anticipation, Rasmus took a deep breath in, bracing for the worst.

“It’s Martin...Rekkles.”

Mihael quirked an eyebrow and a goofy smile spread across his face while he reflexively adjusted his glasses.

“Pffft! That’s not even kappapride worthy, Caps. You act like everyone and their grandma hasn’t thought about him like that before. The guy’s practically an idol.”

“Yeah? Then how come everyone and their grandma isn’t choking on fucking flowers, too” he groaned, frustrated by his shitty luck. 

“I dunno...that’s...that’s a good question, actually.”

Mikyx paused in thought, pouting slightly. 

“Maybe it’s true love. OooooOOOOooo,” he teased, nudging at Caps.

“There’s no way in the whole world he would ever-”

“No, no, no,” the bespectacled boy interrupted, “not with that attitude. It’s unlikely, I’ll admit that. But not impossible. Besides, there is another way to fix this, right? In the worst case scenario?”

“Yeah, the doctor mentioned a surgical procedure, but I don’t have time for that until the season is over. What if this thing kills me before then?!”

“On the brightside, that’s only like another month and a half, if you count playoffs,” Mikyx shrugged.

“If we  _ make it _ to the playoffs.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Mikyx tiffed as he ruffled Caps’ fluffy hair, “I’ll just do the honors and tell him for you.”

“Bro, if you do that -”

Mikyx grabbed his phone, typing away furiously while dodging as Caps fought to pry it from his hands.

“Miky, I will int the rest of the season and throw every game. I swear to god,” he cried frantically.

“Sent,” Mikyx announced proudly, standing on his tiptoes and holding the phone up and out of Caps’ reach.

_ Ding.  _

“That was fast.”

Rasmus could only sit in horror as he waited for his friend to read the message aloud.

_ ‘Hey, Martin. Caps loves u.’ _

_ ‘???  _

_ Tell him I love him back’ _

“Wow, that went  _ right  _ over his head,” Mihael scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, and you’re so lucky that it did. Jesus, man. You’re gonna give me a heart attack.”

“But you see?! It’s that simple, you’ve just gotta tell him. Anyway, Rasmus, I will keep my promise. I’m not gonna tell anybody, but if your condition deteriorates much more, I’m gonna have to intervene. As a friend, I really do care about you too much not to.”

“Thanks, Miky. I feel a little bit better just having someone to talk to about it. It means a lot,” he smiled softly.

Another shrill scream echoed from down the hall, this time from Luka’s room. The pair shared one more moment of laughter together before Caps made his way back to his room, feeling somehow lighter than he did before, some weight lifted off his shoulders. Closing his door behind him, he slumped face first onto his bed, reaching for his forgotten phone. Grinning to himself, he stared at his screensaver, a photo of him from his time on Fnatic, the beloved old roster arm in arm together at the 2018 world championship semi-finals. And for a second, he almost felt normal again.

\--------------------


	4. Content Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The G2 boys are forced to collaborate for Content Day.

This was supposed to be their day off, and Caps felt like these days, now more than ever, he could never seem to get enough rest. His progressing sickness, in combination with the pressures of the season had really been taking a toll on him. So, even though none of the G2 boys looked forward to content day, this time around Caps was positive he was by far the saltiest about it. The most annoying part was that whatever the hell they were being forced to do for the camera today was a “surprise”.  _ Aren’t surprises supposed to be enjoyable? _ The only hint they got was “dress to impress”, which for him meant to comb his hair and wear jeans instead of sweats. That was the best they were gonna get. 

It seems like the other guys pretty much had the same idea, not willing to risk being trolled by Carlos. Wunder was the only one to even bother with a button-up shirt. 

“Are you boys confident with your outfit choices,” Ocelote asked skeptically as he looked them over, “Cause like...this is not what I would call ‘impressive’.”

“Well, I think I look pretty fucking good, Carlos,” Jankos replied in his typical cocky tone, “and Miky, too. But he always looks cute.”

“Okay, there’s no turning back once we leave, but you all seem ready to go. You’ve all got your laptops, right? Caps, you can’t carry all that, grab a backpack. Everybody hurry up and let’s get out of here,” Grabbz instructed, ushering them out the front door one by one. 

Caps dejectedly ran back upstairs to shove all of his things in a bag. He rushed back down to rejoin them as they all crammed together in the van.

“Can we at least know how long the drive is gonna be,” Luka whined, nudging Marcin for more arm space in the backseat.

“All I can say is we won’t be leaving Berlin, so it’s not super far,” Grabbz replied.

\--------------------

The boys all stared unenthusiastically at the cafe the van pulled up to.

“What the hell is this? Battle of the Starbucks or something,” Wunder mused.

“The sooner we get in, the sooner you’ll see,” Carlos chimed.

Caps groggily followed along, wads of tissues stuffed in every pocket available. This was his new bad habit, something he hated but had to adjust to, since he never knew when a coughing spell would strike, which was yet another reason he dreaded being out in public. Little did he know his day was only about to get worse. 

“Oh, fuck me,” Luka didn’t even hold back as they walked through the entrance, immediately greeted with the sight of the Fnatic team awaiting their arrival. 

Rasmus instantly locked eyes with Rekkles, and the feeling it sent through him was electrifying. He suddenly felt compelled to hide behind Perkz, leaning to whisper into his ear. His stomach was doing flips and he could feel his chest burning with a fevered heat. 

“Can we please bail, man? I can’t do this. Not today.”

Luka stopped to turn around and face him, looking sympathetic. He gripped Caps by the shoulders and spoke softly, their conversation masked by sounds of the rest of the two teams mingling and setting up their computers. 

“I know, I can tell you really aren’t feeling good today. But you made it all this way, right? Let’s just body these fools and we’ll get you home and resting, ok?”

This was Perkz’s best effort at being encouraging, and Caps was really hoping it would be enough to get him through the day. His midlaner pulled him into a hug and he feebly wrapped his arms around him in return. He perched his chin on Luka’s shoulder for a moment, feeling like he was almost incapable of holding himself up anymore. That’s when he noticed a rather annoyed-looking Rekkles scowling at the two of them from across the room. Only when their eyes met did Martin look away, pretending not to have seen him in the first place. 

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen,” Fnatic’s media manager Pete spoke up, “I bet you’re curious as to why you’re all here today. Our staff got together with your staff and basically decided it would be fun to collaborate, and have a little friendly competition. So, the idea of the challenge is that each of you will be paired up against the member of your same role. For example, Selfmade, you’re gonna be facing Jankos. Jungler vs jungler, and so on, in Showdown style 1v1 matches. All of you are gonna play for best of 3 against each other. Now, what is at stake you might ask? The winners get to eat doner kebab, but it’s not just any kebab, this place we’re at here is famous for it, and it was even voted best kebab in all of Germany. The losers will be forced to eat whatever nasty mystery food the opposing team’s coach brought for them.”

The guys all collectively groaned as they set up their stations. Each pair sat across from each other at their own little table, all lined up in a neat row. 

“Is everyone clear on the rules? For the showdown you can go for CS, turret or kills. We’ll begin our first match as soon as all of your clients are up and running,” Pete continued.

Rasmus sat up straight and tried to look as unaffected as possible while he sat at the table, mere feet away from his old ADC. Now better known to him as the guy he has repressed feelings for, feelings that were slowly eating him alive. He tried to focus on his screen, even though he could feel Rekkles’ gaze resting on him. Daring to glance up and meet his stare, he offered a friendly smile, praying that he didn’t look nearly as awkward as he felt. Martin smirked competitively in return.

“Looking rather cozy with your little ADC,” he quipped.

“You mean my midlaner,” Caps corrected, ignoring the snarky remark.

“Whatever,” the Swede answered bluntly, biting his lip as he looked back down to his screen.

The tension reminded him of some rough days on Fnatic, Rekkles’ bereavement after certain losses, he always made sure everyone else felt as disappointed as he did. But why was he trying to make him feel ashamed for having close bonds with his teammates? At least the other duos seemed to be getting along well. Hylissang and Mikyx were smiling and talking about some show. Martin and Wunder were discussing their bets on placements for the end of the season. Jankos and Selfmade were playfully talking shit about all the overrated players in NA while Nemesis and Luka happily pitched in with their own thoughts on the matter. Rasmus shifted his focus back to the game. Their first matches were about to start.

Rekkles was on Ezreal, and Caps went for Aatrox - because why not? Bwipo went Gragas, because of course Bwipo would go Gragas, against Wunder as Sett. Jankos went for Lee Sin jungle while Selfmade locked in Olaf. Mikyx went Thresh with Hyli on Braum. And Nemesis settled for Syndra with Perkz on Azir. The cameras started rolling and Pete blew a whistle to signal the start of the matches. At first, everyone was evenly matched, but the paces quickly picked up as everyone scrambled to decide which goal to end on.

Caps knew Rekkles was practically a farming God and would probably try to play easy mode and out-CS him without him even noticing. So, Caps tried to go in aggressively for the trades from the get-go, trying to line up a dive. Bwipo went in head on with an “I’m gonna get that first tower for sure” mindset, while Wunder kept the wave at bay and went for CS wars instead. Miky was going in for trades against Hyli who was also ready to go for first blood if the opportunity presented itself. Jankos and Selfmade were ruthlessly trying to jump each other for the kill, which resulted in a very quick loss for Jankos due to being impatient and feeding. Nemesis was also aggressively pushing for trades, but Luka kept him on his toes. All of the players engaged in friendly banter and taunted each other as the games went on. Caps dove in a little too hastily and got caught out, practically handing himself over to Rekkles.

“Are you sure this isn’t bot mode,” Rekkles teased.

“I’m gonna dive this tower. I don’t even care if it kills me,” Bwipo shuffled around in his chair excitedly.

Jankos’ speech had been reduced to strings of Polish swear words at a volume that was definitely  _ not _ an inside voice.

“How the hell are you landing every Q? This is fucking impossible,” Perkz exclaimed indignantly as he tried but failed to dodge.

Altogether, each match ended pretty swiftly with such short-term targets. It felt like barely 30 minutes had passed by the time the respective winners had been decided. 

“Alright, it’s time for me to announce the winners from each role,” Carlos began, “Top lane goes to Bwipo for running it down too hard, I guess. Jungler is Oskar for being only  _ slightly _ less tilted. Mid goes to Perkz for clearly being more dedicated to skill and less dedicated to OnePlus.  _ Ahem. _ ADC goes to Rekkles, although that was the closest battle we saw here by far. And support goes to Mikyx for being flat out better, and that’s not just me being biased, I swear,” he chuckled.

“Ok. For the losers on the G2 side, you will be forced to eat - can I get a drumroll, please,” Pete announced, “THIS!”

He pulled out a bowl of god knows what, some kind of sludge, to their dismay. 

“What the fuck _ is  _ that,” Wunder frowned as he looked at the dish set on the table in front of him.

“So, some of you might be too young, but for those of you that know,” Pete explained, “we were inspired by that one episode of Spongebob.”

“Oh my God, it’s not. It’s the fucking bad breath sundae,” Jankos laughed, but also felt a part of himself die inside.

“Heeey! At least someone remembers,” Pete cheered, “it is peanut butter, onions, and ketchup all mixed together. Bon Appetit, boys!” 

The winners all laughed, feeling more than relieved as they enjoyed their kebab. They watched on intently as the losers were all forced to take a bit of the disgusting mixture. The cameras zoomed in on each one of the poor G2 member’s faces. Caps winced as he took the smallest bite he could muster, trying to quickly swallow it before the taste could settle on his tongue. Wunder tanked his spoonful down, immediately following up with water. Jankos sat there like a child refusing to eat his vegetables, whining and throwing his head back, hoping that some god would magically save him from this punishment. After a solid 2 minutes of bitching about it, he finally took a bite and choked it down, looking like he would gag it back up any second. 

“And for the losers on the Fnatic side,” Grabbz stood up, “ocelote and I pretty much took two slices of bread and put everything we could find in the pantry on it. It’s got some marmite, cheese, jam, nutella and I think some mayo, if I’m remembering correctly. We hope you enjoy this masterpiece, we even cut it into triangles for you. Just like mom used to make,” he laughed evilly as he placed a section of the sandwich from hell in front of each Fnatic player. 

Nemesis stared at the sandwich as apathetically as he stared at everything else. He begrudgingly picked it up, and took a bite. His face was still unreadable as ever. Swallowing hard, he looked into the camera.

“Holy shit. You know, that was really bad, but still not as bad as the salty licorice I was sent for my birthday. Sorry, Martin,” he joked, looking over at Rekkles.

Hylissang looked at the abomination in horror. He looked at his teammates with the same expression he wore that time when Caps went Vayne mid. 

“You know this is actually not fair, right? Like...this will get stuck in my braces and it’s gonna be so bad. I’m gonna have the taste of this thing in my mouth for like an hour,” he groaned. 

Hyli could only make a sad, pitiful expression as he chewed on the vile sandwich before gulping down the entire glass of water, swishing it around in his mouth violently to wash every last crumb down.

“FF,” he grumbled, sounding like he’d lost all hope.

Caps watched on, feeling the overwhelming urge to cough scratching at the back of his throat. He excused himself from the set as soon as the cameras were off, hurriedly walking to the bathroom. Rekkles noticed how quiet Rasmus had been, the exaggerated dark circles under his eyes. His voice was hoarse and his skin looked sickly pale. He decided to go check on his friend, see if he could talk to him in private. As soon as he was only feet away from the bathroom door, he could hear the violent sound of heaving coming from the other side. Martin quietly pushed the main door open, trying not to be noticed as he slipped into the bathroom. He locked the door behind him.  _ Oh well, the others can wait.  _

Without making a sound, he crept into the stall beside the one Caps was occupying. He stood up on the toilet, and peered over the wall, down into the stall at a pitiful looking Rasmus. He was on his knees, slumped over the toilet. His tiny frame was racked by dry heaves, interrupted only by gurgling and retching. Martin’s eyes widened in terror as he saw the toilet water, blood red, as Caps spat more gore out. Floating atop the surface seemed to be something - he couldn’t quite make it out.  _ They looked like _ \- Rasmus’ body shook with the force of more coughs, and more blood and clumps spilled into the toilet. Martin stayed stock-still.  _ Those are flowers floating in the water? _

“Rasmus,” Rekkles said softly, startling the unsuspecting Caps below. 

He looked up defeatedly, wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth with the back of his arm. 

“Unlock your stall, please,” he begged, “we need to talk.”

Caps stayed on the floor, but leaned up just enough to unlatch the door. Rekkles rushed to his side, sliding down to the tile as well so he could prop his dizzy friend up against him, arm wrapped around the smaller boy’s shoulders. Rasmus rested his head on Martin.

“Did the doctor give you a diagnosis?”

The brunette nodded slowly.

“And?”

“It’s hanahaki disease.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about any of this,” Rekkles pressed as he pulled out his phone to do a quick google search on this mysterious “hanahaki”.

Rasmus shook his head.

“How could I,” his voice was so soft, it was almost a whisper.

Martin sat in silence while he read through the webpages, running his hand soothingly through Caps’ hair. 

“Oh,” Rekkles finally answered dejectedly, slowly understanding the cause of this sickness.

“Can I ask who it is,” he followed up, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Rasmus didn’t answer, only gazed up at him with tired, pleading eyes.

“Knowing you, you probably haven’t told whoever it is. Which is pointless because that person would be stupid not to like you back, and then you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“That’s only easy for someone like you to say so confidently. Maybe everyone likes _you_. But I’m not you, Martin.”

“Well, if everyone likes me then that must mean your love is for me, too,” Martin smirked, trying to force the real answer out of his friend.

“I’m just having an extra bad day today, don’t worry about it,” Caps tried to play it off, “it hasn’t been this bad all along. I promise.”

“I mean...All I can do is take your word for it, but you need to promise me you’ll follow up with the doctor.”

“I will, but I’m not putting our season on the line. There’s only so much they can do for me in the meantime.”

“G2 can find a sub, Caps. Don’t be ridiculous.” 

Caps shook his head stubbornly.

“A substitute for  _ me _ ?! You’ve gotta be kidding,” Caps said arrogantly, even as his voice cracked despite him.

“Then I’m just gonna have to get you to tell me who it is. And I will, just you wait,” Rekkles grinned as he stood up, offering Rasmus his hand.

Together, they rejoined their teams as if nothing had even happened, but deep inside, Caps was feeling more turbulence than ever. 

\--------------------------

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we just talk about this photo, tho?  
> https://www.dailyesports.gg/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/EV_P0zsXgAUeHse-800x400.jpg  
> How Wunder is in the back like "Now kiss" and Perkz is giving Rekkles the stank eye like "BOI"


	5. Vision Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rekkles takes a chance, not expecting it to lead anywhere.

A few days had passed since their Content Day encounter, but laying in his bed late at night, Rekkles still found the scene replaying in his head. He couldn’t help but feel nervous about leaving it up to Rasmus to take care of himself. He was always babied on Fnatic. But more importantly, he’s too stubborn. Rekkles was positive Caps would put performance before his well -being. Caps’ words echoed in his thoughts…” _ Everyone likes you…”  _ He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. That seemed to be the common theme, sure, but that’s just how it had been played up since his start as a pro, as far back as he can remember. “Handsome” was as synonymous with Rekkles as Faker was to “The Unkillable Demon King”. Of course, Martin took this as a compliment, but some days it felt like it was just another impossible standard to hold himself to. Rekkles the team captain, Rekkles the best ADC in all of EU, Rekkles the handsome Swede. All of these different monikers to live up to only added to the weight on his shoulders. 

But most of the time he didn’t feel like he was any of the above. He was more the type to keep himself focused and avoid letting outside opinions distract him too much. But Rasmus’ opinion mattered to him. He couldn’t shake the frustration he felt when he saw his old midlaner holding onto Perkz like that. _What was that about, anyways?_ Throughout 2019, whenever he saw them together on the stage after matches, he’d always chalked that jealous streak up to taking the L to G2. Salty about the fact that they should’ve had Caps on their side. But maybe it was something different altogether, something that made him a bit curious. All he could do was roll his eyes as all the old adages of 'not knowing what you have until it’s gone' ran through his head. This curiosity, along with the concern he couldn’t shake, prompted him to pick up his phone.

_ ‘I was really worried about you the other day,’ _ he texted.

_ ‘Don’t worry about it, I’m feeling better already,’  _ Rasmus lied.

_ ‘Oh, so you finally confessed to Luka, huh? I guess it went well.’ _

_ ‘Lmao. Are you jealous of him or something? You were staring him down so hard at content day.’ _

_ ‘I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I am.’ _

_ ‘Cause he’s the better ADC? ;P’ _

Martin laid there for a second, wondering if he should respond honestly or play along with the joke. He smirked to himself, deciding to entertain the idea of outwardly flirting with Caps. The chance that he would actually pick up on it was slim, unless it was super direct. Rasmus was so naive, it would probably just get lost in translation. But Martin found himself too amused at the thought of Rasmus’ flustered reaction. 

_ ‘Because I want to be the only one to hold you like that.’ _

Caps read the message once, and read it again. He was searching for the joke or some hidden meaning, but it was hard to take it lightly when the guy couldn’t even bother to throw in an emoji or anything. Safer to assume it was sarcasm.

_ ‘I mean, you had your chance. It’s nice to share, you know. ;) If you could give up the last few titles for Fnatic, it’ll be easy to give me up, too.’ _

Rekkles could only laugh at a dodge of that caliber.  _ And he flamed me, too? Wow. _

_ ‘Hm, the titles I can do without, I suppose. But not you.’ _

Rasmus felt his cheeks burn as he read the last message.  _ What level of trolling is this?  _

_ ‘Are you smurfing or something? Why is the great Rekkles suddenly flirting with me?’ _

_ ‘Maybe if I can sweep you off your feet, you’ll quit being in love with the idiot who doesn’t love you back, and you’ll feel better again.’ _

“If only you knew” _ ,  _ Caps found himself saying out loud.

‘ _ I don’t know if that’s how this works, but I’d be willing to test your theory .' _

He pretended to play along, even though he really wished it could just be this easy.

_ ‘Wait. Really?’ _

_ Shit! Is he calling my bluff, _ Caps wondered.  _ Oh, well. I’m not bluffing and I fucking hope he’s not either. Here goes nothing… _

_ ‘Yeah, really.’ _

He couldn’t help but hang onto every second, waiting for Martin’s reply. 

_ ‘Ok. I’ll stop by the gaming house tomorrow. Make sure your animal teammates don’t jump me when I show up.’ _

_ ‘Lol. See you then.’ _

Caps laid back in his bed that night, wondering what the hell just happened. Rekkles, meanwhile, had a plan in mind. He couldn’t help but feel like it was a shame that he couldn’t have backed Rasmus into a corner and forced that conversation in real life, but then again, tomorrow was another day. In all honesty, he wasn’t nervous about this at all. He felt like he had nothing to lose. There was no way in hell Caps would actually fall for him romantically, but this was an in for him to try and coax the identity of his true love interest out of him. In the meantime, it was a win-win situation because he could check in on his friend’s health, too. 

\----------------------

The following afternoon, Martin found himself fussing with his hair more than usual. He also spent too much time going through his wardrobe. As much as he was trying to act like today was no big deal, he couldn’t keep from tryharding - even if it was only a little bit. He triple checked himself in the mirror before heading out the door. He caught an uber to the G2 gaming house and waited to be buzzed into the annex, and luckily Caps had remembered to tell them they were expecting him. 

“Oh shit,” Jankos said as he opened the door to let Martin in, “I didn’t know Fnatic was sending spies now.”

“Yeah, nice to see you, too,” Martin replied sarcastically.

“Did you lose a bet or something,” Luka teased as he casually walked past the foyer, “I thought we saved the live sacrifices till after the end of season.”

“I’m just here to meet with Rasmus,” Martin said coolly. 

“Hey, Caps! Your boyfriend is here~” their jungler called.

Caps was still in his room, scrambling around to hide all of the bloodied tissues and flower petals. He shoved everything he saw in a bin and shoved it under the bed, and he threw his blanket over his stained pillowcase. He took a deep breath, well - as deep as he could manage with such congested lungs, and headed out to greet Martin. 

“Hey, I - uh, my room is this way,” he waved Rekkles over.

“No leaks, Caps! We’re watching you,” Mikyx called after them playfully.

As soon as they were in the privacy of Rasmus’ room, Rekkles laughed softly.

“What?”

“I thought I told you to protect me from those animals, but I walked into a fucking zoo,” he joked.

“My bad,” Caps smiled.

“So, uh...Why did you want to come here today,” he asked, awkwardly fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket.

“Ah, for this,” Rekkles said as he dug through his backpack, finally pulling out a jersey and holding it up. 

“Your 2019 jersey,” Caps said, more of a question than a statement.

“Yeah, put it on.”

“What? Why,” Rasmus asked, a little flustered, only feeding into Martin’s ego.

“I give you mine, you give me yours.”

“B-but they’ll know, I mean, your name is  _ right _ on the back. It’s -” Rasmus stumbled over his words.

“Are you too embarrassed,” Martin challenged him, raising his brows as a small smirk crossed his lips.

“No, but it’s not about being embarrassed,” Rasmus steeled himself.

“Okay, then put it on for me. Now.”

Something about the commanding tone of Martin’s voice sent shivers down his spine. He felt the same blush spreading across his cheeks as he shyly began taking off his jacket and shirt in front of his old teammate. He felt nervous, but aroused. He realized just how many times he’s been able to take his shirt off around another guy without it being a problem, but today it felt like a strip tease. As his t-shirt hit the floor Martin tossed him the jersey, and he hastily slipped it over his head in a rush to feel covered again. 

Rekkles eyed him thoughtfully, noting how adorable he looked. The size difference between them made it so that the jersey draped off of Rasmus’ small frame and hung further down his shorter body. Martin found himself deciding it would be even better to see him wearing  _ only  _ his jersey, but he shoved that fantasy aside for now, trying to read the room. They momentarily caught each other’s gaze.  _ Is he...blushing?  _

Caps quickly spun around to look himself over in the mirror, avoiding the tense eye contact.

“It is good for pajamas maybe,” he laughed, tilting his head to the side.

“Aw, but you look so cute,” Rekkles chirped.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Rekkles answered as he stood up and started taking off his own clothes until he was the one shirtless. 

Caps tried not to admire the tone of his body, instead digging through his untidy closet to find his old 2019 jersey. 

“Ah-ha,” he announced proudly as he pulled out the wrinkled shirt and passed it over to Rekkles.

“You’re lucky I wear my clothes a little loose because otherwise I don’t know how you would get that on.”

“It’s too bad we can’t all be petite and adorable like you, Caps,” Martin snickered, pulling the jersey over his head. 

It was tight, for sure. But nothing insane.  _ It will stretch out with time, hopefully.  _

“Well?”

Martin did a small turn for him, the muscles in his back showing through the fabric. 

“It looks good, but everything looks good on you,” Caps replied casually.

Martin sat down in Caps’ computer chair, in silent thought for a moment.

“Do you want me to wear this under my Fnatic jersey at our next match? That would be pretty spicy, no?”

They both laughed at the idea. 

“I can’t wear this in public, man. People are gonna flame me. I’ll be the next Selfmade - “number one Rekky fan”,” Caps jested.

“I guess it’s okay if you only wear it for me. You can send me lewds in it like an e-girl,” Martin smirked, “although, I would kill to see your teammate’s reactions to it.”

“So now you wanna act possessive of me because you saw Perkz give me a hug,” Rasmus teased, “that’s kind of extra”.

“I do, actually. How about we heat things up in here, make a little noise so everyone knows,” he winked, taking Rasmus’ hand and pulling him into his lap on the chair.

Caps blushed madly, looking anywhere but at Rekkles. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. He was only praying that Martin didn’t notice, but of course he did. Rasmus tried to relax his posture and pretend like this position wasn’t nearly as compromising as it felt. 

“You seem a little better today. I’m honestly surprised, I fully suspected that you were lying to me. But I guess that _longing_ embrace from your true love Luka ended up being enough to get you back on your feet,” he taunted, trying  _ extra _ hard to get a clear answer out of his stubborn friend.

Caps laughed despite himself.  _ Back to this Luka nonsense again?  _

“Martin, I know you think  _ I’m  _ the clueless one, but actually...” he paused, shifting himself to straddle Rekkles in the chair, facing him directly now.

Martin saw it again, that same desperate look in his eyes, the one he saw that day in the bathroom.

“Then just say it,” Martin replied.

“It’s you.”

\----------------------


	6. Runaways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little after-match fun for Caps and Rekkles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look ok, I know that this point in the season is where they discontinued arena matches, but idc - for the sake of this plot - they had a stage match. Lol. I'm sorry. 
> 
> As for the c9 video reference I make: https://youtu.be/kdSDlBadyfc?t=209

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.

“Hey, Caps! We’ve gotta start-”

The lag between the knock and Mikyx barging in was way too short for them to have done anything about it. Not to mention, Caps’ knees were pretty firmly wedged between the arm rests and Rekkles’ thighs. It was no more than a split second of the support sticking his head through the door, seeing the two, his eyes widening comically, and him slamming the door shut to get the fuck out. 

The pair immediately burst into laughter over Mihael’s priceless reaction. Caps awkwardly climbed out of the chair as he wiped away a happy tear that was forming at the corner of his eye from laughing so hard. 

“Well, with that,” Rekkles stood up, “I’m gonna get the hell out of here, before shit really pops off in this madhouse,” he smiled, pulling on his jacket and zipping it up.

“Thanks, by the way,” Rasmus said, looking down at the jersey for emphasis, “I promise I’ll wear it.”

“You’d better,” he winked, showing himself out of Caps’ room and back towards the main entrance. 

On the way out, he brushed past Mihael in the hallway, who eyed him suspiciously. Martin just smiled and held a finger up to his lips in an unspoken  _ ‘shh’ _ as he walked by. 

“Leaving so soon, pretty boy,” Jankos called after him as he made his way to the front door.

“Duty calls,” Martin replied bluntly, “I’ll see you on the rift.”

And with that, he walked out the door.

Caps barely had the chance to register the events that just took place before Mikyx came crashing into his room once again. 

“Rasmus,” he grabbed him by the shoulders, “why didn’t you- oh wait,” he paused to lock the door, “why didn’t you lock the door, you idiot?! Jesus Christ, you’re so lucky it was only me who walked in.”

“How was I supposed to know that would happen?!”

“How was  _ I  _ supposed to -” he stopped mid-sentence, looking at Caps wearing Rekkles’ jersey in disbelief. 

“Stop judging me,” Caps recoiled.

“I’m not judging you. Weebs don’t judge, remember. I’m just thinking - this is really cute. It’s like something from a shoujo manga. No, no! It’s like Code Geass. You’re the Suzaku to his Lelouch. We’ll call it Code Gay-Ass,” Mihael cracked himself up.

“I don’t understand your weeaboo references, but I’ll take your word for it,” Caps smiled.

“It's top tier KappaPride. That’s all you need to know.”

“It really wasn’t any more kappapride than you and Perkz on a daily basis,” Rasmus shrugged.

“Pfffft!  You couldn’t have been more on top of him than if you were C9 Sneaky/Jensen in that one Fact or Swallow video,” Miky mocked.

“Okay, anime is fine. But please don’t compare us to NA players, that’s just disrespectful,” Caps laughed.

“Alright, that’s fair. But anyways, I was trying to tell you we’ve gotta start scrimms soon, let’s go.”

As the two of them shuffled out into the gaming room Wunder was the first to call Caps out on the jersey.

“Traitor! If you wear that, we’ll lose every game,” he taunted.

Jankos turned around in his desk chair to see what the commotion was about.

“Oh my god, I was right! Rekkaps confirmed,” he shouted.

“Nah, I just pointed out how cool I thought the 2019 jersey was, and he’s a nice person so he gave me his,” Caps lied, and Mikyx stifled a laugh.

“Perkz, come here,” the jungler called, “wait, wait! Bring your jersey,” he added as he ran off to go raid Mihael’s room in secret. 

Perkz walked in with his jersey thrown over his shoulder, looking confused until his eyes landed on Caps. 

“I don’t support this ship,” he grinned slyly, pulling at Caps’ sleeve.

Marcin ran back into the playing lounge at full speed, Mikyx’s jersey in his hands.

“I found it,” he declared, forcefully pulling the support’s jersey over Luka’s head.

Jankos stole Perkz jersey off him and proceeded to wrestle with Miky to get it on. A struggle ensued for about 3 minutes before Mihael finally had the shirt all the way on.

“Well, well, well,” Luka cooed, approaching the support, “I didn’t think it was possible for you to be any cuter, but...”

Jankos made the two stand side by side while he took a picture of them from the back, for twitter posterity, of course. 

“The fangirls are going to have a field day. They can thank me later,” he said.

“Hello, everyone? Now that we all have boyfriends, can we practice already,” Wunder groaned, never ceasing to be amazed by his teammates’ antics. 

\------------------------------

Rekkles got back to the Fnatic office and let out a sigh of relief.  _ No place like home _ , he thought. 

“Where were you,” Bwipo asked curiously.

“Oh, at the G2 house,” he answered casually.

“And they let you out of there alive? Spill the juicy strats, man,” he bounced excitedly.

“Sorry to disappoint, boys. But they kept it on lockdown. No reveals today,” he laughed, taking his place at his computer.

Nobody on the team really bothered to say anything to Martin when he eventually got warm and took off his jacket, unveiling the jersey belonging to Caps. Most were too focused on their games, others probably didn’t even notice - that was, until Pete came along. 

A wolf whistle from behind snapped Martin’s attention back to the room and away from his desktop. 

“Rekkles, man. Lookin’ good,” Pete said, patting him on the back.

“I know we all miss Caps, but if you need professional help, just say something,” Hyli teased.

“Weird things going on at G2’s place, huh,” Pete said, holding out his phone to show the ADC the picture Jankos posted on twitter.

“What can I say? I’m a trendsetter,” Martin laughed.

Everything seemingly went back to normal from that moment forward, minus the fact that Martin couldn’t stop kicking himself for not kissing Caps that afternoon. But there was still that nagging fear that maybe he was reading the mood all wrong.  _ Maybe it’s better that I didn’t.  _ Despite the fire he was sure he saw in Rasmus’ eyes, he was compelled to take that “confession” with a grain of salt. It wasn’t characteristic of Caps to be serious, especially not when it came to personal matters that often made him feel put on the spot. That’s kind of what Rekkles was doing that day, anyways. Maybe he'd pushed him too far trying to solicit some sort of reaction, and Rasmus was just telling him what he thought he wanted to hear. Another game of solo queue was his solution to clear his head. And he’d queue up and queue up and queue up again if he had to, as long as it took to get his mind off of Caps. __

\----------------------------------------

A couple of weeks had passed since Rekkles’ visit to the G2 house, but Rasmus was still riding the high of their meeting. If nothing else, being near him like that was enough to prevent the progression of his sickness, at least for a while. He was even sleeping better at night now. This lent him back some extra drive and motivation, which gave the overall team the second wind it needed to come back and crush their next rivals. Meanwhile, Fnatic was winning their matches, too. And before they knew it, it was time for another Fnatic/G2 faceoff. 

Needless to say, the Fnatic fan base was once again disappointed by the loss, fearing that another title upset was in the works. But they weren’t gonna go down without a fight. Rekkles just as well figured if they were gonna get beat down by any team, G2 was the only somewhat excusable opponent. All they could really do was try to keep a good mindset and learn from it for the playoffs. 

Rushing backstage after the match, Martin hurriedly looked around for Caps. With the whole virus situation going on, there wasn’t supposed to be much intermingling going on, but it was their first time playing each other again in almost a month. He figured he might as well snag his ex midlaner while he was already around. Finally spotting him walking down the corridor with his team, he ran up behind him, taking him by the hand. Caps awkwardly spun around, a little surprised to see Martin up close and personal again.

“Hey, good game,” he said with a charming smile.

“Oh, yeah, you guys, too,” Caps grinned.

“Do you wanna go somewhere with me,” Rekkles asked, pulling him aside.

“I dunno. When?”

“Right now. Fuck post game interviews and all that bullshit, let’s just leave and go anywhere. What are they gonna do?”

“Well, probably flame me to be honest,” Caps laughed, “but I’m in.”

Together, the two of them snuck out of a fire exit in the back of the arena, thanking the gods that it didn’t trigger some kind of alarm. 

“So, where are we heading to, Captain,” Rasmus said dramatically.

“I dunno, I figured there’s a Mcdonalds nearby. Which is probably the only thing that’s open right now,” Martin shrugged.

“Wow. You kidnapped me from my team to take me on a date to McDonalds? You’re really smurfing.”

“I mean...we can get a hotel if you want something more romantic,” Martin raised his eyebrows. 

“I see how it is. Can’t top me as an ADC so you’re trying to level the playing field in the bedroom instead,” Caps joked.

“Noo,” Rekkles replied sarcastically, raising his hands in mock surrender, “besides, that’s what playoffs are for. _Revenge_.”

“Haha. Yeah, we’ll see. To be fair, it’s only extra difficult for you because you’re always playing against Claps: Extra Tryhard Edition.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that,” Rekkles asked curiously.

“Because I want to impress you,” Caps said with a goofy smile.

The Swede laughed softly, ruffling Caps’ hair playfully as they walked through the streets of Berlin aimlessly, talking and joking about nothing. Suddenly, Caps was overtaken by a strong wave of coughs. He leaned up against a nearby brick wall, embarrassed that Rekkles had to see him like this again, as he bitterly spat a mouthful of bloody petals onto the ground. It felt like forever but it finally passed, and he turned around to wearily walk back over to his very concerned looking friend. He swallowed the now too familiar taste of iron.

“I should head back home soon, I don’t have any medicine with me.”

“Yeah, it’s...no problem. Let’s head towards the main street so we can catch a ride.”

They continued on in silence for a few blocks, seemingly following wherever their instincts took them.

“It kills me to see you like this. I just wish there was something more I could do.”

Caps didn’t answer, a million thoughts racing through his mind.

“You know since that day, it’s been bothering me…”

“Oh, don’t worry, we can trust Miky. He’d never tell.”

“No, not that. I mean, you were trolling, right? When you said it was me who you liked?”

“Doesn’t that mean _you_ were actually the one trolling? Before you came over that day, you never said anything about liking me. Just making me like you. To distract me,” Caps replied, a hint of sadness barely detectable in his tone.

“Wouldn’t that mean I like you, too,” Martin insisted.

“I think you’ve done gayer things with Deft, and you guys don’t even speak the same language,” Caps elbowed him in the side teasingly. 

Rekkles looked up in thought for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and nodding in agreement.

“I can’t disagree with that,” he laughed.

“Jeeze, you really know how to make a guy feel special,” Rasmus replied sarcastically.

“Maybe it’s just because I’m waiting until I know if I’ve really won you over or not. That was only our first date,” Martin winked. 

“Do you ever wear it,” the blonde asked curiously.

“Oh, sometimes,” Caps blushed, looking down at the floor, “only to bed, though.”

“I’m still expecting those lewds, by the way,” Rekkles smirked.

\--------------------------------

Much later that night, as Rekkles lie in his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling, the vibration of his phone startled him from his thoughts. He casually unlocked the screen and opened the text from Caps. Sure enough, it was a selfie. Rasmus was wearing the oversized jersey he’d given him, hair messy and disheveled, sitting on his knees suggestively with the end of the shirt just hanging beyond the upper part of his slender thighs, enough to cover him, but revealing enough pale skin to show he wasn’t wearing  _ anything _ underneath. No caption, just that single photo.

‘ _ Well, I’m definitely not gonna be able to sleep now ;)’  _ he messaged back.

_ ‘Remember what you said. I give you mine, you give me yours ;p’  _ Caps replied.

‘ _ Ok...Gimme a sec.’ _

  
  


_ \------------------------------------------- _

  
  



	7. Going In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie night at the Fnatic house.

In the following weeks, the boys fully poured themselves into the last games of the regular season. Behind the scenes they were both cheering for each other, despite the public pitting the two teams against each other as the main rivals. Like usual, as matches came down to the wire, the grind became more intense as all of the top teams sharpened their skills for playoffs. Needless to say, Rekkles and Caps didn’t get to spend much time during these final weeks, but they recently tried to make a habit of at least duo-queuing together every now and then. 

It was the night before the very last match of the regular season - Misfits vs G2. It was about 2AM, and Caps was still wide awake, playing some solo queue to calm his nerves. That was when he got a call from Martin over discord. 

“What’s up,” he answered casually, trying not to sound as anxious as he was.

In fact, sometimes he didn’t know if the hype of a big game gave him more butterflies or if Rekkles did. Maybe the games were a close second. He fidgeted in his gaming chair.

“Just wanted to tell you that you’re gonna kill it tomorrow,” Martin said encouragingly.

“Ahh, stop you’re gonna jinx it,” Caps laughed.

“Why didn’t you invite me to duo, by the way? I’m a little hurt,” Rekkles giggled, feigning offense.

“I’m actually in a game with your midlaner right now, but it was just by chance,” Caps smiled despite the fact Rekkles couldn’t see him.

“Oh, with Nemesis? You’d better play nice.”

“I’m just gonna ping him the whole fucking time for no reason,” Caps laughed cruelly.

“You know, you don’t have to be jealous. No midlaner could replace you. Besides, Tim only loves OnePlus,” Martin replied.

“Jealous? Never,” Rasmus said sarcastically.

Rasmus spam pinged Nemesis several times just for the lols and he held his mic up close to the speakers so that Rekkles could hear him doing it. Shortly after, Martin heard Nemesis shout in annoyance from his room across the gaming house.

“Ahahah! You’re so toxic, stop,” Martin smiled. 

“I miss you, I can’t help it,” Caps shrugged.

“Then FF and turn your webcam on, if you really mean it.”

“Steamy webcam streams are reserved strictly for my OnlyFans, sorry,” Rasmus teased.

“Oh, shit. In that case, lemme go sub real quick,” Rekkles replied.

“Poggers.”

“I can’t wait till the next time you stream,” Martin continued, “I’m gonna do like the raunchiest donation and expose you. Twitch chat will never be the same.”

“You wouldn’t dare. I’ll leak your nudes,” Caps threatened playfully.

“Nudes? Deepfake, or photoshop,” Martin laughed.

“Yeah, true. Unfortunately, I don’t have any real nudes of you.”

“If you turn on your webcam, I’ll  _ take off _ my clothes. Deal?”

“Oooh my god. Very tempting, but we’re like...in the middle of an intense base race right now, so I’m gonna have to pass,” Rasmus replied.

“You mean like backdoor? We could do that, too,” Martin added flirtatiously. 

“Your jokes are too spicy, you just made me die,” Rasmus laughed.

“My bad, my bad. You need to go to bed, anyways. I’m only looking out for you.”

\-------------------------------

A couple of days had passed since G2’s victory over Misfits, and they felt like they were on top of the world. But they only had a few days to sit comfortably in their throne before the play-off scramble to overthrow them would begin. As much as they all craved it, there wasn’t really any downtime for leisure, but they did get at least one day off. Caps had planned to spend the whole day lazing about, doing whatever. That was until his phone lit up with a notification from Rekkles.

_ ‘The team is having our traditional scary movie night tonight. Do you wanna be my date?’ _

_ ‘That sounds like a bad idea for so many reasons.’ _

_ ‘Bwipo is inviting his gf, and Nemi is bringing his OnePlus, I don’t see why me having you would be any different...Besides, you used to be part of the team, pretty much everyone already knows you.’ _

_ ‘Ok, ok. Fiiiiinnnnne. What time should I get there?’ _

\------------------------

It was nearly 8 o’clock by the time his Uber dropped him off at the Fnatic gaming house. It was a stormy night, creating the perfect ambience for watching a horror film. He thanked the driver and dashed from the car to the cover of the small awning, trying his best to avoid getting drenched. Rasmus pressed the intercom. He overheard voices approaching the door.

“We should really just leave him out there in the rain, that’s more entertaining than a movie,” Oskar’s sarcastic tone echoed through the room.

“What's wrong with you people,” Hyli laughed, shoving past Selfmade and Nemesis to let Caps in. 

“What’s up, man? Come inside,” he greeted.

He and Caps exchanged a friendly embrace.

“Welcome to movie night, Craps,” Oskar said, cocky as ever.

“It’s uh...good to see you guys, too,” he waved awkwardly at them, Nemesis just staring him down blankly.

As they all wandered out to the lounge room, Martin snuck up behind Rasmus, wrapping his arms around him from the back. 

“Are you wearing cologne, Rekkles,” Bwipo asked as he walked by, making an animated sniffing sound, “it’s just movie night, man. Quit smurfing,” he laughed.

“So, what are we watching,” Hylissang asked curiously, adjusting his thick rimmed glasses.

“I picked it this time,” Nemesis spoke up, “it’s called High Tension. It’s French.”

“Whoa, from 2003? Were you even born then,” Pete laughed as he looked up the film for streaming.

“Shut up,” Nemesis rolled his eyes as he squeezed into the small space left on the recliner seat Oskar was sitting in. 

Bwipo and his girlfriend were curled up in a giant bean bag chair, while Hylissang, Pete, Caps and Rekkles all sat on different areas of the large sectional. They all made themselves comfortable with blankets and snacks. Pete switched off the lights as he started up the movie. Everyone seemed to be pretty enthralled from the opening scene, barely looking away from the screen to grab a bite to eat here and there. Everyone except for Martin. He looked at Rasmus, and admired how the light from the tv played off his features. He also couldn’t help but feel like Caps was sitting way too far away, even though they were only sitting a regular distance apart. 

Rekkles reached out and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him closer until they were hip to hip. He shared his blanket, throwing it over the both of them. Caps was too focused on the movie to even care, basically letting Martin ragdoll him around as he pleased. Trying to capture the smaller boy’s attention, Rekkles shamelessly held his hand in his own, hidden under the blanket, he squeezed a little as he interlaced his fingers with Rasmus’. The ex-midlaner looked at him briefly with a shy smile, but didn’t pull his hand away. 

“The main girl kind of looks like Oskar,” Bwipo joked. 

Everyone laughed except Oskar, of course. 

“I bet that’s why you like this movie so much, huh, Tim? Reminds you of your bestie,” Pete teased.

“Yeah, totally,” Nemesis said in fake agreement. 

Whenever a jump scare happened, Hyli was by far the most reactive out of everyone. From where he sat, Caps could even feel the movement of the couch every time he flinched in shock. 

He looked away from the movie for a moment to glance up at Martin, who was biting his lower-lip mindlessly while staring at the television. But before he could look away, Rekkles caught him staring. The blonde raised his brows curiously and smirked, releasing his grip on Caps hand to snake an arm around his waist instead. Rasmus could only hope that the darkness of the room was enough to hide the fact that he was blushing as his body pressed up against Martin’s.

When the movie ended, they all stretched out, lazily getting up out of their seats. The teammates all stood around, cleaning up after themselves and discussing the unexpected plot twist at the end. Eventually, everyone began to shuffle off to their own rooms. The loud sound of thunder was still rumbling outside as Rasmus hesitantly headed towards the door.

“Where do you think you’re going,” Martin asked.

“I mean, home, right? This isn’t a slumber party.”

“Says who? We watched a scary movie, I’ll be too scared to sleep alone. Besides, the weather is nasty out there. Please stay,” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Caps shrugged and smiled charmingly

“How can I say no?”

He was happy to stay, really he didn’t want to leave. But at the same time, he felt nervous about the thought of spending an entire night together with the guy he’s been pining after for so long. A flash of lightning illuminated the walls of Martin’s room for a moment as he closed the door behind them. 

“What side of the bed do you want?”

“I can sleep on the floor, it’s no-”

Rekkles interrupted him, grabbing him by the waist and pulling him onto the mattress beside him.

“Who knows how long it will be before we get another chance to be together like this,” Martin sighed, flopping back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to see you again,  _ alone, _ like last time at your place.”

“You mean when you pussied out on kissing me because you never take me seriously,” Caps teased.

“You should never take a dirty inter too seriously,” Rekkles laughed, propping himself up on his elbows to look at his friend.

Caps reached into his pockets, grabbing a couple of pills he had luckily remembered to bring along this time, and washed them down with some water. He tried to act nonchalant about it, like these meds hadn’t become a massive crutch, barely getting him through. He scooted back on the bed and laid down, arms folded behind his head. 

“This is nice,” he remarked quietly, “it’s almost like being back on Fnatic again.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing, in a way,” Martin said thoughtfully.

Caps looked at him questioningly.

“A team captain can’t have a romantic interest in one of his own teammates. That’s favoritism,” he laughed.

“I don’t know what’s worse - that, or fraternizing with the enemy,” Caps replied sarcastically.

“Hahaha. Nothing wrong with that, we’ll just call it good sportsmanship,” Rekkles winked.

He repositioned himself and rolled onto his side, looking at Caps who turned to face him as well. The two looked at each other in silence. They had seen each other’s faces a thousand times before, but never like this. And as Martin’s gaze drifted down to Rasmus’ soft lips, he almost second guessed himself again. But to his surprise, before he could waste any time hesitating - Caps made the first move instead. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all idek what this chapter is, I'm sorry. Lol.  
> Another cliffhanger, too. Gotta love it.


	8. It's Just a Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things were finally going well for Rasmus.  
> But priorities always have a way of messing things up.

Martin almost felt his heart stop as Rasmus timidly leaned in. He paused for a moment, just the tips of their noses brushing past each other before his lips softly captured his own. It wasn’t possessive or powerful, it was quite the opposite. The kiss had barely connected when Caps pulled back, looking unsure of how his friend would react. Rekkles smirked, taking him by the chin and pulling him back in for more, this time a bit more passionately. As his fingers ghosted over the smaller boy’s cheek, he noted how smooth and soft his skin felt compared to his own stubbled chin. 

He playfully bit Caps’ lower lip, testing the waters. The ex-midlaner’s hand gripped at Martin’s hip for dear life. Rekkles pulled away for a moment, their foreheads staying pressed together while they both gasped for air. Rasmus’ cheeks were fully flushed as Martin stared him down, eyes heavy with lust. Their kiss reconnected, even more fervently, tilting their heads to get more leverage as their tongues explored each other’s mouths. The blonde’s hand slid down Caps’ spine, stopping at the small of his back to eagerly pull his hips into his own. Rasmus moaned as his body melted into the sweet friction.

Suddenly, they were both startled by a thumping sound coming from the next room over. 

“Jesus, is that Tim and Oskar,” Caps said in a hushed voice, giggling through the question, “it’s always the quiet ones that are the kinkiest.”

“No,” Rekkles rolled his eyes as a female moan could be heard through the evidently thin wall.

“Oh...Bwipo. Yeah, not really something I wanna picture,” Caps winced at the thought.

“You see what I have to live with,” Martin laughed.

“Yeah. Well, let’s not be that guy,” he decided.

“Agreed,” Rekkles nodded as he scooted back over to his side of the bed, head still reeling from the heat of the moment.

They talked in whispered voices about various things until they both drifted off. They ended up the next morning somehow in each other’s arms, with Rekkles as the big spoon, arm lazily draped around Caps’ waist. They probably would’ve stayed that way for awhile, too, if it weren’t for their unfortunate wake up call. 

\----------------------------------

The G2 housemates were really expecting Caps back last night, so when he never came back and failed to reply to Grabbz text, Fabian sent Jankos and Perkz on a recon mission early the next day. 

“What if they’re holding him hostage?”

“You can’t be serious, Grabbz. Caps is MVP, but he’s not  _ that  _ important. Besides, as soon as he wakes up and bothers them for freshly squeezed orange juice, they will kick him out,” Jankos laughed.

“Yeah, he has a point. Caps is fine, just let him be,” Perkz agreed, “besides, I don’t wanna go.”

“Too late, your driver is already outside. Have fun, boys. Oh! And if you see Mithy, tell him best draft wins,” Grabbz called after them as they stomped off toward the front door like a couple of spoiled kids.

“If we have to go do this dumb chaperone stuff we should at least prank them or something,” Jankos said mischevously. 

“ _ You _ should be the chaperone. You’re the old one,” Perkz sighed.

“Ouch, that hurts. I’m allowed to talk shit about myself, but it hurts when you do it. Even if it’s true,” Jankos laughed.

“So, how are we gonna prank these clowns,” Perkz smirked evilly.

“I mean...they have to let us in, right? So...we don’t really have the element of surprise,” Jankos shrugged.

“Wait, I have an idea! Driver, we need to make a detour real quick.”

\----------------------------

Finally arriving at the Fnatic house, the boys stood awkwardly at the entrance, pressing the bell and praying that someone would be awake in the house to answer. Luckily, Bwipo opened the door, a confused look on his face.

“Can I help you guys?”

“We’re just here to pick up our son from his little playdate,” Jankos chimed comedically.

“Well, come on in. I think he’s still sleeping, but you can try,” Bwipo offered, leading them through the house towards Rekkles’ room. 

“He should be in there,” the toplaner said as he walked back off to rejoin his significant other in the kitchen.

They waited for him to disappear completely down the hall before they looked at each other slyly. 

“Oh shit, mine leaked a bit,” Marcin whispered as he pulled out the small water gun he had hidden in the waist of his pants.

Luka struggled not to burst out laughing.

“It looks like you pissed yourself, man,” he giggled softly, pulling his water gun out of his back pocket.

“It’s okay, still enough ammo to take these fools down,” he said, posing dramatically like something out of a James Bond movie.

“On the three count,” Perkz asked.

“Ya, on three we burst in there and open fire. No holding back,” the jungler nodded.

But instead, when they pushed open the door, neither of them shot at all. They stood there, frozen. Marcin’s jaw dropped wide open, and he looked at Luka with his eyes wide in an unspoken “are you seeing what I’m seeing”? Luka snickered silently, as he instead pulled out his phone to snap pictures of the peacefully spooning Caps and Rekkles, still asleep and completely unaware of their bedroom intruders. 

Rekkles stirred slightly at the sound of their muffled laughter, and the G2 boys froze once again, not moving, not even breathing. That was when Perkz phone began to get blown up with notifications from the photo of them he had just posted to twitter. The caption read: “ **@G2Mikyx** , this could be us but you playing’”. 

“Shit,” he huffed under his breath, quickly switching it to silent mode, but it was too late.

Martin’s weary eyes fluttered open, and he looked around and saw Luka and Marcin awkwardly hovering at the foot of his bed. He glanced back down, a noticeable look of panic spreading across his face as he realized Rasmus was still cuddled up next to him. 

“Fuck,” was the only thing Rekkles could mutter, knowing there was no way to lie out of this situation. 

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauties,” Jankos said in a sing-song voice.

Caps grunted and rolled over, his eyes wincing from the morning light. He jolted awake quickly as soon as he recognized the familiar voice, and it registered that  _ that voice  _ does not belong in the Fnatic house. He eyed them suspiciously, looking down at the spray guns in their hands.

“Oh, these? We were going to, but when we saw you two, it was too cute to disturb,” Jankos said, waving the gun in truce.

“Yeah, it’s super adorable actually. I wish Miky would let me do these things with him. I was never a Rekkaps shipper like Jankos here,” Perkz trolled, “but now I am number one Rekkaps fangirl.”

\------------------------------

Several hours later that day, Caps found himself sitting in front of Carlos at his office. This was rarely a good thing. The atmosphere was tense, even though ocelote was a friendly guy, he was still the top dog of all G2 when it came down to it. The CEO took a seat behind his desk, opposite Rasmus and gazed at him sternly. Caps averted his eyes, looking down at his knees instead.

“Do you wanna have a guess why I’ve called you in for this talk today?”

“Luka’s twitter post?”

“Exactly. Well - not  _ exactly _ that, but just the overall situation. Caps, your behavior hasn’t been conducive to a healthy professional environment. You’ve been acting reckless - with Rekkles,” he laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

“The picture - I never gave them permission to post it, nobody would have known if - They shouldn’t have even been there,” Caps defended himself.

“Nooo, Rasmus.  _ You  _ shouldn’t have been there. First it was you, bringing a top competitor’s team member into our house, without Grabbz’s consent. Then, you disappeared after the match against Fnatic that night at the arena. That was not only unprofessional, but selfish. You worried us all. And last night was really the cherry on top, Caps. Going into Fnatic territory. All this intermingling, it creates sticky situations that will put both our and Fnatic’s integrity on the line. Normal pro players who are friends, they stream together, duo queue, that’s all fine and dandy. But you’ve been crossing a line lately, and I’m afraid I’m gonna have to respectfully ask that you approach this friendship of yours with a little more tact from now on.”

Rasmus looked at the desk, feeling a mixture of anger and defeat bubbling in the pit of his stomach. His health had finally been improving, both mentally and physically. His coaches didn’t know the severity of his condition, or even what he was diagnosed with. Mikyx had kept it a secret like he’d promised, so although the people around him knew he wasn’t well, nobody really understood the extent of it. And here he was, finally on the brink, on the brink of a cure, on the brink of happiness, of having everything he’s ever wanted - only to be told he can’t have his cake and eat it, too.  _ Life’s not fair.  _

“We’re adults, aren’t we? At the end of the day, League of Legends is just a game. Why play it if it’s going to take away our ability to lead normal lives outside of work,” he argued, trying not to raise his voice.

“I totally get that, it’s only different because your “life” is too entangled with our rivals. If it was any regular person you’ve been spending time with, you wouldn’t be here right now. We respect you, and we support you no matter what. But as an organisation, we’ve got standards and policies to adhere to. And most importantly, we have playoffs to focus on. We can’t have your teammates running around the city looking for you when you should be here, at the office, or at the gaming house working hard like everyone else.”

“Well, I don’t really think it’s fair. Especially considering my past with Fnatic, you know that, everyone knows that. Of course those members are gonna be a part of my life. But whatever, I’ll be better, I guess. It’s not like I have a choice, anyways. I’ll work harder and stay with my team from now on,” he sighed, accepting his fate.

“That’s what I want to hear, Champ,” Carlos encouraged, “and look, during off-season, you can do what you like, okay? So chin up.”

Caps left the office feeling empty. When he got back to the G2 house, his teammates immediately swarmed him in concern, assuming he had gotten into some kind of trouble. But he didn’t want to talk. He simply walked past everyone without acknowledging them as he made his way to his room. If anything, he felt betrayed by them, like they had contributed in publicizing his and Rekkles’ closeness. Who even knows how much Ocelote would have found out if it weren’t for Jankos’ and Perkz’ obnoxious social media presence. That night, Caps didn’t feel like a member of a team at all - he felt utterly alone. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lowkey sad chapter.   
> Thanks as always for reading :D


	9. No Man Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can teamwork make the dream work?

Their first series of the playoffs was in only two days. And even though Caps was salty about pretty much everything at that moment, he still rolled out of bed the next day, took his medicine, and got straight to playing solo queue until the rest of the house was ready for scrims. Last night, he had to break the news to Martin, and explain the sad reality that what little time they’d been able to spend together in real life could be no more, at least until the offseason. He wasn’t willing to risk getting into more trouble. Sure, he was irritated by his teammates for their lack of discretion, but he would never jeopardize their season together. They had all worked too hard for it. 

\------------------------------------

Rekkles had no choice but to respect the decision, and take his word for it. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t feel suspicious that this whole debacle began right after they shared their first kiss. There were a million doubts circling in the ADC’s head.  _ Did I take it too far? Is that why he’s pushing me away now? Maybe kissing him like that was a bad idea. After all, he did pull away at first, and I kept going. And he was the one who suggested we not go any further - Shit, maybe I really fucked up, _ he thought. He unlocked his phone and the screen lit up, thinking maybe he should call him and set all of this straight, but as Rasmus’ innocent face stared back at him from his screensaver photo, he clicked the phone off and threw it across the room.  _ Fuck. _

\------------------------------------

As the rest of the G2 teammates funneled into the gaming room that day, Caps greeted them, pretending everything was okay, but there was a detectable bitterness in his tone. He was playing with them in scrims, but he wasn’t really all there. He was basically on autopilot, only going through the motions. His chest felt heavy that day, heavier than usual, and there were moments when he felt like he was going to drown in his own self-pity, sitting there at his desk. 

“So, what happened with Carlos yesterday,” Perkz asked between games.

“Yeah, we were really upset. It wasn’t because of us, right,” Jankos asked, guilt evident in his voice.

Caps sighed, swaying back and forth in his computer chair, bouncing his knees nervously. 

“They told me I can’t see Martin anymore. Never during the season at least,” he replied.

“Those homophobic pieces of shit. If the LEC has openly queer casters, I dunno how they’re gonna try and tell a player what to do,” Wunder pitched in heatedly.

“He didn’t mention anything about the “relationship”. Besides, it’s not even like that,” he flatly denied, “I don’t think the public thought so, either. Even when you guys posted that picture. If they did, can you imagine the death threats I’d be getting from all the Rekkles fans. Pro players post "gay" pics all the time, doesn’t mean anything.”

“Hahaha! You mean death threats specifically from Selfmade,” the toplaner laughed, “But that is true, especially in NA, it’s KappaPride as fuck out there and that’s just everyday life.” 

“Then what was his reasoning,” Luka questioned.

“Professional integrity. Basically, I can’t hang out with him strictly because he’s a member of an enemy team. To quote him, ‘if it were any regular person it wouldn’t be an issue’,” Caps imitated the CEO mockingly. 

“Pfft! What the fuck kind of rule? Like I get the concern about us being in each other’s offices or houses, but I’ve never heard about any policy like this before, as long as everyone is respectful about it,” Marcin scoffed.

“Well, Carlos apparently thinks it’s enough for pro friends to just duo queue together and that’s it. So, that’s my only option right now,” he replied dejectedly. 

Mikyx, meanwhile, was taking in the dangerous reality of this situation. He was the only one who knew that this Romeo and Juliet forbidden love bullshit meant certain doom for their dear friend. He wanted so badly to help somehow, but he knew that Rekkles was the only one with the power to do anything about Caps’ hanahaki, and now that hope was stripped away. The support just sat there, keeping his fingers crossed in hopes that at least Caps could survive the next couple of weeks of series until they could get him help, be that surgery or Martin, whatever came first. 

“We’re really sorry, man. Just let us know if there’s anything we can do,” Luka added.

\--------------------------------

G2 lost their first series to Mad Lions. It wasn’t a  _ total  _ stomp, but the loss took a toll on the team’s already weakened morale. The stress of the season, coupled with loss of both the games and Martin, really sent Caps into a downward spiral. Mentally, he was in a dark place, which only served to exacerbate his illness. After an entire night kept awake by coughing, he looked down at the full bin of hacked up flowers at his bedside. He had just emptied it the night before. Martin hadn’t spoken to him since the day he told him they couldn’t hang out anymore. The last thing he needed was to be cut off completely, but here he was - not a text, a discord call - nothing in days. He felt sick thinking that maybe Rekkles was holding a grudge about the whole ordeal. But then again, he would be annoyed, too. If the person he liked was kept on a leash like some fucking obedient dog, and they just got in line and accepted their fate, not even fighting back to keep what they loved. He retched as more petals came up, spitting more blood and pulp into the nearly overflowing trash can. 

As he slumped down into his computer chair, everything felt chilled and unwelcoming. He was sweating but he felt so cold, a blanket wrapped around him for good measure. Mikyx walked by, noticing the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He looked miserable and pale. The support tenderly placed the back of his hand to Rasmus’ forehead. 

“Shit, you’re on fire,” he exclaimed, pulling his hand back.

“I know,” Caps laughed, but it came out as a congested cough instead, “I’m pretty hot,” he tried to joke, raising his eyebrows seductively.

“You need to get to a doctor, like ASAP,” Mihael said seriously.

“There’s nothing more they can do for me right now, Miky. Otherwise, I would. You’re my support. Heal me,” he smiled weakly.

Mihael scoffed, shaking his head. 

“Okay, but you’re really too much. You know that, right,” he laughed softly as he wandered off towards the kitchen. 

“Oh, but first things first,” he paused, spinning around to hastily walk back towards their ADC, “ _ this _ will only make your fever worse,” he said, snatching the blanket off of him unceremoniously. 

Caps shuddered as the comfortable warmth was ripped away from him. The room temperature air felt like the bitterest winter against his exposed skin. Miky walked back in, gently putting a cold, damp towel around his neck, which only made Rasmus’ body tense up more. 

“And I hope you didn’t think I would forget,” he called as he once again ran back from fumbling around in the fridge, “a big glass of orange juice! Gotta get that vitamin C,” he said, setting the cup down on Caps’ desk in front of him.

Caps didn’t have any appetite, but he needed something to soothe his sore, aching throat. He took a gulp of the drink and set it back down, before looking at Mihael in disbelief. 

“Oh my god, that’s actually freshly squeezed orange juice,” he almost gasped.

“Yeah, I felt really bad about you getting  _ the talk  _ last night. So, I made you some in hopes that I could at least boost your mood a little this morning.” 

“When I’m better, I owe you big time. Maybe I’ll let you force me to binge watch your favorite anime with you,” Caps joked.

“Nah, you can just pay me back by carrying us through these playoffs,” Mihael grinned, taking his seat at his desk. 

“I’ll do my best, but I can’t make any promises,” the ADC smiled, launching some League to kick off the day’s practice.

“You know,” he confessed quietly, Miky still the only other person in the gaming room, “he stopped talking to me since I told him what happened.”

Mihael rolled over in his chair to be closer to him, clapping a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. 

“I’m sure he probably thinks he’s doing what’s best for you right now. He probably feels bad about being involved in you getting reprimanded.”

“Yeah, but he’s an idiot. Him ghosting me right now is the last thing I need,” Caps sighed, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry. He’ll come around. We’ll send Luka and Marcin back over there, and they can  _ negotiate -  _ if you know what I mean,” Mikyx raised his eyebrows.

“That’s the last thing we should do right now. I don’t want the wrath of Carlos coming down on anyone else.”

\-----------------------------------

Later that afternoon, once the meds began to wear off, Caps was back to feeling terrible. In fact, he felt worse than he had that morning. When it really began to reflect in his performance, he excused himself from the rest of the team, and sulked back to his room, his concerned housemates exchanging looks of worry as they watched him go. 

“We’ve gotta do something,” Wunder said sternly, “if Miky’s orange juice wasn’t enough, that means this is serious,” he half-joked.

“Alright, there’s only about six days until our next series. We need a plan,” Luka began.

“You guys, there’s something I’ve been hiding from you,” Mihael admitted solemnly.

They all looked at him curiously, scooting their chairs in closer.

“Caps is sick, we all know that, but it’s not a simple respiratory infection like he’s been telling you. I know what it actually is, and the reality is much worse. I didn’t mention it before because he was getting better, but-”

“He is so much worse this past week, it’s horrible. You’ve all noticed it, right,” Marcin interrupted, “that cough sounds so nasty. Half the time I feel like I should break into his room at night just to see if he needs me to administer the Heimlich maneuver.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m gonna tell you now. But you can’t tell him I told you. Can you promise me that,” the support stared them all down. 

“We’re a team. You can trust us,” Luka replied assuringly.

“He has something called Hanahaki disease, and before you say anything, I know this sounds crazy but it’s real, and the doctor confirmed this with him, so - don’t act like a bunch of fucking buffoons when I explain it,” he paused to sigh, “his lungs are filling up with flowers. He’s been coughing up rose petals, it’s horrible. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. He’s been trying so hard to hide it.”

“Holy shit, that is why I have sometimes seen something strange left behind in the toilet. I thought I was going crazy. The other day, I saw a little piece of a stem, with a thorn on it and everything - just floating there in the water. I was like  _ what the fuck _ ,” Wunder commented.

“Why hasn’t he gotten it fixed? Shouldn’t he be dead by now, if this is legit,” the jungler interjected.

“The surgery is a lengthy recovery and he refuses to sit out on any of our matches. Well, he said that was his reasoning, but I think he is also scared.”

“Why would he be scared,” Perkz asked.

“Well, I would have to explain -  _ Shit, _ ” Miky cursed, not wanting to give away too much of Caps’ secret, “the disease, it's rare, but it is caused by unrequited love. A-anyways, I was looking into it and if they do the operation to fix it, you lose your feelings for that special person. Maybe he’s afraid to give that up.”

“Jesus Christ. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, but I believe you,” Jankos said, running a hand through his hair.

“Oh, fucking hell,” Perkz began, the epiphany dawning on him, “I see it now. It has to be Rekkles, huh? We are so fucking stupid, I can’t believe it.”

Miky fell deathly quiet, awkwardly avoiding the questioning gaze of his team members.

“Oh nOOOooooOOOOOOO,” Jankos yelled, “It really is, isn’t it?! Perkz is right! It was so obvious.”

“Wow,” Wunder sighed, “looks like Carlos gave our boy the death sentence.”

“Not on our watch,” Perkz spoke up, “like I said. We have six days, six days to fix this. Not for the season, or the victory, or any of that bullshit. But because that’s what teammates do for each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The other day I saw this really old UOL house tour vid and...shirtless Hyli is something I never knew I needed until now lmao   
> https://youtu.be/qyCGRZSSm18?t=37


	10. Silver Scrapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The G2 boys begin to strategize, but nothing ever goes as well in real life as it does on summoner's rift.

“As of right now, I’ve decided it’s probably best if we don’t try to go to Ocelote about this. If we do, we’ll definitely be running the risk of getting him benched - and if he gets benched, the people will want to know why...You get the idea,” Luka explained quietly as they all sat around the couch, eating pizza for dinner. 

Caps was upstairs, which is where he had stayed since the night before. He was at the point where he preferred staying in his room. The coughing had escalated beyond anything the meds could cover, and he’d feel like a nuisance if he sat in the scrim room all day practically choking up an entire bouquet. Mihael helped him set up a makeshift gaming station with a laptop and a tray table so he could still play while sitting in bed, now complete with  _ two _ trash bins on the floor - just in case. The only upside to not being able to sleep, was that he’d been able to squeeze in more soloQ, but the quality of his play was so lackluster that he had to wonder if it was even doing him any good. 

“I agree, for sure,” the toplaner nodded, “I feel like the only real thing we can do is somehow get them together - alone. Not at either of the gaming houses or offices, and not in the public eye. Somewhere completely private. That way, in the worst case scenario that they do get caught, nobody can complain about “integrity”.”

“That’s the thing, they  _ can’t  _ get caught. No matter what. If they get caught, Carlos is one hundred percent gonna feel pressured to follow up with some sort of consequence. Think about it, as an authority figure he’s obligated to, even if he didn’t want to enforce anything personally,” Jankos said seriously.

“Oh my god, I have the perfect idea,” the jungler continued, “camping. We will send them into the woods to go camping. We can lie to Caps and tell him it’s another episode of G2 Goes Outside, and then SURPRISE! Rekkles is there and then we ditch them to survive on their own in the wild,” he pitched with way too much energy.

“This isn’t fucking Bear Grylls. He’s barely surviving in his bedroom right now, idiot. Besides, would  _ you _ wanna fuck someone in a tent? I don’t think so,” Perkz answered incredulously.

“Calm down, cowboy. Who said anything about fucking,” Marcin exclaimed.

“You’re asking the wrong person. Jankos is an animal, he’d probably fuck  _ anyone anywhere. _ Although actually, for future reference, that’s a hilarious idea,  _ but _ you should pitch that concept to Fnatic’s team so we don’t have to do it,” Miky laughed, “Anyway, the first line of business is Rekkles.”

“What about him? I thought they were already on the same page,” Luka asked.

“He told me that since the night he delivered the news about the visit he had with Ocelote, Rekkles hasn’t spoken to him. He even said that in the off-chance they ended up in SoloQ together, he dodged,” Miky explained.

“What the fuck? Do you think maybe he was just using him,” Wunder suggested.

“It was for the twitter clout,” Marcin laughed, “No, but seriously. I doubt it, they’ve known each other for too long now.”

“I don’t trust any of you clowns. Just let me do the talking, okay,” Mihael asked, “I’ll leave it to you guys to come up with a plan for the rendezvous.”

“Oh my god, Miky. You’re so hot when you speak French. sOAZ might as well end his career,” Luka winked.

The support smiled and rolled his eyes.

\-----------------------------------

Rekkles knew that Caps could be pretty stubborn, stubborn enough not to try and reach out to him since he pushed him away. Either way, it left a bad taste in Martin’s mouth. They were screwed no matter what. If he had been telling the truth, and his leaders were  _ actually  _ barring them from hanging out, then that was some seriously backwards team management. On the other hand, if this was all a ploy to avoid him, which seemed more likely in his mind, then Martin was just as lost. So, he kept his distance just to be safe. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make amends. They are both team players, they obviously understand the importance of communication. He just believed that if Caps was withdrawing from him, it wouldn’t be right to continuously be the one putting himself out there first. It was too forward. Maybe his ex midlaner would contact him when he was ready, if it wasn’t all for nothing, that is. 

He lazily rolled over, reaching for his phone as it vibrated on his nightstand. A text from G2’s support:

_ ‘I’m not trying to involve myself in other people’s business, but I’m gonna go out on a limb here.’ _

_ ‘I wonder what this could be about _ 😒’

_ ‘What’s your issue, man? Caps really needs you right now.’ _

_ ‘Like hell he does. If he needed me, he wouldn’t be making up bullshit excuses not to see me.’ _

_ ‘Did he not tell you the full story, or???’ _

_ ‘Yeah, you mean that trash about your CEO or whatever? There’s never been such a rule.’ _

_ ‘He has his entire team as witnesses, so.... Why would you think he’s lying?’ _

The soft realisation dawned on Rekkles, and he felt the guilt settle in. Was he really so selfish that he would make this whole thing about his own insecurities?  _ So the thing about Carlos really was true?  _ He felt regret, this whole time pitting himself against Caps for letting himself be vulnerable and feeling discarded. In reality, it should’ve been Caps and him versus the world. 

‘ _ So, he really wasn’t making that up?’ _

_ ‘Of course not. He’s been falling apart at the seams since you disappeared on him. It’s clear that he feels terrible about it. And I’m sure you know already, but his sickness has gotten a lot worse. His health is declining rapidly. We’re all very worried about him.’ _

_ ‘Shit. When can I see him?’ _

_ ‘I thought you’d never ask  _ 😎’

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Luka slowly opened the door to Rasmus’ room. The ADC was rolled over on his side, curled up and clutching his pillow with his back facing towards the midlaner. Perkz softly smiled to himself as he noticed the font across the back of the shirt he was wearing - it was Rekkles’ jersey. He gently sat on the edge of the mattress, frowning as he looked down at the bloodstained bins by his feet.

He reached out his hand to shake Caps’ shoulder, trying to wake him up. 

Nothing.

Caps was typically a heavy sleeper.  _ Maybe the medicine really knocked him out, _ he figured, shaking him with a bit more vigor.

“Caps,” he called to him, “you’ve gotta eat something. I can heat up some pizza for you.”

Nothing. 

He was oddly still. Luka turned him over to face him, suddenly overtaken with concern. His eyes widened in fear as he took in the sight of Rasmus’ pale face, dried blood crusted at the edge of his lips. He frantically felt for a pulse as he held an unresponsive Caps in his arms. He could feel one, but it was so faint.  _ Shit shit shit! _

Adrenaline kicked in as he scooped Caps’ limp body into his arms, barreling out into the hallway in a panic.

“Quick! Someone call 112. Now,” he shouted, the others hurriedly gathering around him. 

Within seconds Miky was on the phone requesting an ambulance. All they could do was wait by the door anxiously. 

“What are we gonna do,” Jankos paced nervously around the room as Luka delicately lowered Caps to the floor.

“Does anybody know CPR,” Luka asked, checking his respiration.

“I was trained once! But it’s been a long time,” Wunder raised his hand.

“What are you waiting for, man,” Marcin cried, “just do it.”

He rushed to Caps’ side, kneeling down and beginning the chest compressions, praying his memory served him correctly and he was pressing in the right spot. He tried his best to administer breaths through his mouth, even though it all felt hopeless. Rather abruptly, Caps doubled over, and they all backed away as he curled into himself, gasping for air as he coughed up an ungodly amount of blood and flowers. His eyes opened briefly as he tried to focus on the blurry image of all his teammates standing over him. He didn’t even know where he was. 

As soon as emergency services pulled up, they didn’t wait for the stretcher. Marcin picked him up, rushing him outside to the safety of the paramedics. Mihael knew they had to tell Rekkles, so he picked up his phone as they rode in the back of the ambulance, dialing the unaware man he had just spoken to only hours earlier. Perkz squeezed Caps’ hand, frowning as tears stung at the corners of his eyes.

\------------------------------

Rekkles jumped out of bed. He threw on a jacket and pants and hurried out the door, running towards the nearest street to hail a taxi - there was no time to wait for a ride share. As he pulled up at the hospital, he anxiously jogged over to the reception desk. 

“I’m looking for a Rasmus Winther. He would’ve just been admitted.”

He tapped the desk impatiently, chewing on his lip nervously until she finally gave him the room number. There was no way he could force himself to wait for the elevator, so he ran up five flights of stairs, and hurriedly tried to navigate his way through the maze of halls.

“Hey, over here,” Marcin waved him down from a smaller corridor as he saw the rival ADC nearly pass them by.

“What’s going on,” Rekkles asked breathlessly, looking at them all.

They were lined up against the wall, waiting in chairs outside of Caps’ room.

“They told us to wait out here while they stabilize him. They said we can be with him when they start prepping for surgery,” Wunder explained solemnly.

“Surgery...” Rekkles looked at them nervously.

“You know what that means, right,” Mihael looked at him sadly.

“No, what’s the matter,” he asked apprehensively.

“When he wakes up from that operation, he won’t love you anymore,” Luka sniffled, dabbing at his cheeks with a tissue. 

“ _ That _ and he’ll be waking up to the bad news that he will have to be subbed out for the rest of the playoffs. Recovery takes nearly a month, according to the surgeon,” Marcin added weakly.

Rekkles stared at the ground in disbelief, feeling helpless and ashamed and heartbroken all at the same time. 

\------------------------------------------------------

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came to this realization that Rekkles kinda looks like if Elon Musk and Pewdiepie had a baby and I can't unsee it. Lol.


	11. Catharsis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The G2 boys and Korean Dramas???

Rekkles tapped his foot on the floor impatiently and sighed as he began to pace back and forth. He couldn’t possibly - no,  _ wouldn’t _ , simply sit there and wait when he knew he had the power to set things right. He burst into the room, startling the two nurses that were recording Rasmus’ vitals and transcribing all of the details into a file on the computer. Caps was equally shocked by the violent entry, but more so by the sight of Martin. Wunder moved to go in after him, but Perkz grabbed him by the arm, holding him back, shaking his head in a silent “no”. 

Martin glanced between his friend and the two nurses, a grave expression on his handsome features. Caps was awake, but he looked worse for wear. He was sitting up in the hospital bed with his back propped up by some pillows. 

“Can we please have a moment in private? It’s important,” the Swede asked as politely as he could manage in this situation.

The staff members shared hesitant looks with one another before conceding.

“Ok, young man. But don’t keep him too long, we need to get things moving here for his operation before he gets critical again,” the older woman said sternly as they both filed out of the room, closing the door behind themselves.

Upon seeing the two medical workers exit the room without Rekkles, the G2 boys looked at each other in confusion. But they knew better than to interrupt anything, keeping their fingers crossed. Jankos got up on his knees in his chair and tried to peep through the small gap in the curtains that were covering the window. 

“Don’t be a creep,” Miky said, tugging on the jungler’s sweatpants.

“I can’t resist! This is just like a K-Drama,” he said in an excited whisper.

“Still a better love story than Twilight,” Mihael laughed quietly. 

Unable to contain their curiosity, all of the G2 teammates huddled around Jankos, practically piling on top of one another in the same chair, trying to spy through the glass.

Rasmus looked up at Martin, uncertainty still evident in his eyes. 

“W- what are you doing here,” the words barely came out, pained and raspy.

Rekkles sat on the edge of the bed and took his cold, delicate hand into his own, gripping tightly as he clasped his fingers around Caps’. Martin’s brow furrowed in a forlorn gaze as he took in the state of his friend, his heart only breaking more as he noticed his familiar old jersey.  _ It’s all my fault. _ He inhaled sharply, trying not to cry. He leaned down slightly to place tender kisses on the back of Rasmus’ fist, staring up into his eyes as he did so. 

Rasmus blushed, well, at least as much as his pallid face could muster, considering the circumstance. He avoided the blonde’s gaze, instead turning his head the other way, pretending to be interested in the readings on the monitor he was hooked up to. 

“I owe you an apology,” Rekkles began.

“For what? All you ever did was put in effort to spend time with me, and then I suddenly dropped the shitty news that we can’t anymore...I’d be mad, too,” Caps said plainly with a sympathetic shrug.

“I was never angry with you, not for a second. I was scared, but now I see that there was a lot worse to be afraid of,” Martin admitted.

“Why would you be scared?”

“I thought you were lying to me. I was nervous that I had pushed you too far that night you slept over, and maybe you just wanted to avoid me.”

Caps smiled to himself, shaking his head.

\------------------

“Can anyone hear what they’re fucking saying. Someone turn on the subtitles,” Perkz whispered sharply.

\-----------

“That’s so far from the truth. That night when ocelote sat me down, I found it hard to bite my tongue. I challenged him a little bit, but I barely managed to keep my cool. I haven’t been that upset in a long time. Because spending that night with you made me so happy, and there I was, helplessly being told it was over, even though it had barely just begun.”

“I was so terrified of being rejected by you, that I got caught up and lost sight of what’s more frightening - the thought of losing you. I’m such a fucking idiot, Caps. This is all my fault,” he said, his voice trembling towards the end.

\---------------

“Just shut up and kiss him already! Oh my gooooddd,” Jankos hissed under his breath as the teammates all pressed their faces against the glass, fighting for the best vantage point.

\------------------

It dawned on Caps that Rekkles truly understood now. If he knew that it was his fault that he was here, then he knew the gravity of Rasmus’ affection for him. He knew that it was unquestionably for him and nobody else. This was something he had been playing off for so long, acting, or maybe now as his perspective becomes clearer, foolishly  _ believing - _ that these flowers were meant for some other lover. 

Martin inhaled deeply and let out a long, shaky breath. He tightened his grip on his ex midlaner’s hand. It felt like he was drowning, trying to find the right words to say. It was suspenseful, even for Caps. 

“Listen, whatever you wanna do...I’ll support your decision. If you wanna go through with this operation, I mean. But I just want you to know that even if you wake up and all of your feelings are gone, I’ll always be in love with you.”

The way he said it and sounded so sure almost caught Rasmus more off guard than the kiss that followed. Everything about it was sincere and warm, spreading through every inch of his body, making him come alive again. He closed his eyes and surrendered fully to Martin’s passionate lips. Rekkles knew that it wasn’t enough to say that he loved him, he wanted him to feel it. 

The only thing that made them pull away from one another was the sudden outburst of cheering and clapping and tapping on the window as the G2 members celebrated the K-Drama moment they had all been anticipating. Martin turned around to see the team of clowns waving on the other side of the glass, giving thumbs up in approval. He and Rasmus both laughed, looking at them in disbelief.

“So fucking nosy,” the Swede called loud enough for them to hear from outside the room.

He grinned at them playfully, waving them off as he turned back to Caps, taking him by the chin to resume their kiss. 

\------------------------

“Alright weirdos, come on. Let’s give them some privacy,” Wunder said, already back in his chair.

They reluctantly pulled away from the window, Marcin being the last to do so - only after receiving a sharp elbow to the ribs from Luka.

Perkz turned to Mikyx and gave a few fake coughs, a smirk crossing his face.

“Oh no -  _ cough _ \- I think I’m coming down with something, Miky. Better confess your undying love for me before it’s too late,” he winked.

The support adjusted his glasses, squinting at him in comical disbelief.

“I think I’ll just wait until you end up in the hospital, too. If Rekkles did it, that’s gotta be the power play,” Mihael laughed.

\---------------------

Rasmus pulled away, only for a moment, smiling sheepishly as they stared at one another. 

“You’re crazy if you think I would give this up for anything,” he said before leaning back in, recapturing his lips softly.

They probably would’ve stayed that way forever, but Caps was forced to lurch back violently as his lungs were overwhelmed with a sharp, stabbing pain. His pupils went wide with fear and he gripped the white bedsheets for dear life as he doubled over, grunting in agony. Martin grabbed his arm, trying to comfort him anyway he could.  _ Why is this happening? _

“Shit! I’m gonna get someone, hold on,” he jumped up, pressing the call button furiously, turning to go run and find someone on foot.

But Caps grabbed him by the edge of his jacket, his body trembling as he looked up at him with a pleading expression.

“Please stay with me,” he whimpered.

“Fuck, ok. One second. I’ll be right back,” he assured.

He popped his head out of the door, looking at the bored G2 guys playing games casually on their phones. 

“One of you! Hurry! Go get a nurse, a doctor - anyone,” he commanded, snapping them to attention.

All four of them jolted out of their chairs, splitting in different directions down the winding halls. 

Martin rushed back to Rasmus’ side, stroking his back in an attempt to soothe the smaller boy as he heaved and coughed uncontrollably. He was fighting to catch his breath as mouthful after mouthful of sanguine petals hit the cold floor, splattering gory patterns across the tile as they landed. Tears fell from Caps’ lashes, staining his cheeks as he winced in misery. 

The coughing unexpectedly ceased as he felt something hit the back of his throat, obstructing his airway. He gagged a little, trying to dislodge the foreign object, but to no avail. Rekkles watched on in horror as Caps reached into his mouth, his thumb and index finger poised. Painstakingly, he tried to pinch at whatever was stuck there until finally, he got a hold on it. Tugging at it gingerly - like some kind of grotesque magic trick - he dragged out an entire rose, fully intact, stem and all. He retched one final time as he yanked it completely free of his windpipe. 

Caps stared down at the flower, twisting and turning it between his fingertips. In all its glory, despite the torment it had just caused him, it was difficult not to admire this one. It was different from the others - a pure, beautiful ivory color, save for the drops of blood tarnishing its otherwise perfect hue. He figured it was possibly due to this momentary reprieve after what he would describe as one of the most painful moments of his life, but he felt lighter somehow. 

The G2 team barged into the room, a doctor in tow, white coat and all. He looked at the two boys sitting on the hospital bed, and then down at the rose in Rasmus’ fingers. Everyone visibly relaxed as they realized that the moment for urgency had already come and gone. Caps looked peaceful and alert with Martin at his side. The surgeon knelt down, examining the blossom closer before looking back and forth between the two of them curiously. 

“Good work, kid,” he beamed, standing upright and clapping a congratulatory hand on Martin’s back.

Rekkles and Caps stared back at him with visible confusion. 

“That, my friend, was the  _ root,” _ he stopped to laugh at his own pun, “of all your problems.”

“Huh,” Rasmus questioned, staring down at the singular flower in disbelief.

“Yes, let’s call it the “master bloom”, if you will. It’s the original flower that takes root in your lungs, and all of the other ones that have been sloughing out in the meantime were just smaller seedlings. They all branch off from this guy right here.”

“But how do you know this is  _ the one _ ?”

“Only the main flower grows in its entirety like this. That’s why all the others you’ve seen have been coming in bits and pieces. Isn’t that right?” 

Caps nodded slowly in agreement. 

“If I may say so, this is by far the prettiest specimen I’ve ever seen in one of these cases. To be fair, I’ve only had the chance to work on a handful of hanahaki patients, but all the same,” he shrugged. 

“So, I’m cured,” he asked in a hopeful tone.

“Precisely. It will take awhile for the lungs and throat to fully heal from the abrasions, but aside from that, it should be all smooth sailing from here. Oh, and by the way, in some parts of the world, it’s tradition to give your flower to the one who planted it there,” he smiled, quirking a brow at Martin, who looked away shyly. 

“Hashtag relationship goals,” Jankos yelled dramatically from the corner of the room. 

The Polish boy’s booming voice brought everyone back to reality. Mihael glanced down, suddenly aware that he was holding Luka’s hand. He blushed as he quickly let go, which also alerted Perkz to the fact that they had been holding hands. He was equally surprised, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he took a few steps away from the support. 

Rasmus grinned, purposefully offering Martin the rose, arm outstretched. The blonde accepted it like it was the most precious treasure he’d ever been given, holding it close to his chest and beaming back at Caps like they were still the only two in the room.

\------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also can we just talk about that new G2 youtube content...and how they're gonna be doing CPR?!!! Lol. That coincidence, tho.


	12. Hide on Bush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cause we all know "hide on bush" is just fancy Faker slang for camping...part one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was just gonna finish this thing out as one extra long chapter, but I'm taking too long so I'm posting it in smaller chunks like the rest of the story!   
> Sorry to make you wait ^.^'

From that point on, things went just as the doctor said they would. Caps made a steady recovery, and he felt nearly back to his old self within a matter of days. As the everpresent pressures to perform in the championships raged on, both Fnatic and G2 crushed any and every opponent that stood in their path to victory. All the while, Martin and Rasmus were selflessly pushing themselves to be the best - not simply because they cared about one another, but because they were still each other's biggest rivals. 

By the time the final series came around, not many people could say they were surprised to see G2 and Fnatic as the last teams standing. But there also weren’t many complaining about it, either. Their face-offs were always incredibly hyped up, considering both groups’ well-established reputation as EU’s top competitors. But there was no stopping G2 this time around. Fnatic would have to wait until Summer season for another shot at first.

For now the only task the players wanted to focus on was recovering from the postseason burnout. Unfortunately, their organisations seemed to have other plans in mind.

\--------------------

Nemesis groaned as he rolled over in bed, blinking his perpetually tired looking eyes as Pete woke him up, unceremoniously shoving a camera into his unprepared face. The content manager was saying something to him, but he was still too asleep to comprehend any of it. 

“Are you ready for your close up, sleeping beauty,” Pete laughed, zooming the camera in even more.

Tim retreated under the safety of his blanket, pulling it up over his head. He reached a single arm out from under the duvet, holding up his Oneplus.

"Snoozing, but always woke enough for memes, huh?  Suit yourself,” Pete chuckled as he made his way to the next room over. 

He swung open the door to the jungler's room, who immediately groaned at the intrusion. 

“Noooooooooooooo, fuck off,” he cried, smothering himself with his pillow.

“Lovely to see you, too, Oskar. Get up, we’re going on an exciting adventure today,” Pete said in a singsong voice.

He peeped cautiously into Bwipo’s room, and upon confirming that the toplaner completely alone, made the decision to bother him, too. Bwipo slept the heaviest out of all the Fnatic members, knocked clean out, despite the fact that Pete was making no effort to be sneaky. He zoomed in on his snoring mouth for dramatic effect before nudging him awake. He looked around wearily with squinted eyes, adjusting to the morning light shining through his blinds. 

“Huh? Oh, hi Pete,” he grumbled, “this can only mean one thing.”

“You betcha. Content dayyyyyy~” he chimed, heading out to find his next victim.

Slumbering Hyli was almost too adorable to disturb -  _ almost.  _ He panned in on a pink, plush unicorn that was tucked snugly under his arm, a beloved remnant of his UOL days. Zdravets was the type to startle awake, eyeing his surroundings with a concerned expression. But as soon as he determined that the coast was clear, he’d slump over on the mattress like nothing had ever happened, immediately zonked back into unconsciousness. 

Rekkles’ eyes fluttered open as soon as he heard Pete’s footsteps creaking on the floor down the corridor. He was already sitting up in his bed when he walked in, yawning and rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes.

“I can only imagine what kind of torture you have in store for us this time,” he smirked.

“You’ll just have to wait and see. We’re meeting downstairs in fifteen.”

\----------------------------------------------------------

“This is a joke, right,” Mihael said flatly as they all piled into a van.

“It’s only been like three days since the end of the season, and you’re already using us as content slaves. Waking us up at 7AM? What the hell,” Wunder grumbled, laying his head back against the seat in resignation.

“Yaahhhh, GraaaAAAAAaabbzzz,” Jankos yelled in agreement, already ten notches too loud for anyone’s liking. 

Fabian turned around from the driver’s seat to give the jungler a sly stare, Charlie also rotated from his spot in the passenger seat to focus the camera on all of the boys’ reactions.

“Look,” Fabian began, “no spoilers, but you can all thank Jankos for this, by the way.”

“What?! Me,” Marcin exclaimed in confusion.

“I don't know where we're going, but he's not coming back with us...All in favor of exiling him,” Perkz called for a vote.

Everyone in the car raised their hand in unspoken unison.

“Wow, guys,” the blonde rolled his eyes, taking a sip of coffee.

“Maybe if we’re lucky we won’t have to kick him out, some other team might poach him and take him off our hands for us,” Caps teased.

"You need to respect your elders," the polak replied indignantly.

Everyone was too groggy to care about the rest of the journey, all napping in their seats. Mihael’s head was perched gently on Luka’s shoulder, and their arms were interlocked. Martin was slumped in the corner against the window, and Caps’ torso lulled forward, hanging heavy with sleep. Marcin was the only wary player in the vehicle, casually chatting away with Grabbz to keep him company on the drive.

\---------------------------------

As they pulled up to an expansive campground, Jankos cursed under his breath in Polish. 

“Supplies are in the trunk, boys! Come on, let’s start unpacking,” Grabbz said, energetically clapping his hands, rousing the band of sleepyheads.

They slowly reanimated, one by one, stretching as they got out of the car, taking in their surroundings. 

“Ohhhhh, nooo. Are you fucking serious,” Perkz whined, “Jankos, I hate you. You can carry my shit.”

“Mine, too,” Mihael added, throwing the heavy camping pack at the already encumbered jungler, knocking him off balance. 

Wunder sighed, taking one of the three bulky duffles off him to help out. Caps carried his own, not really frustrated at all with the situation, unlike his teammates.  _ There’s nothing to complain about, right? We finished the season on a high note, now we can enjoy life with another victory under our belts.  _

“Yeah, content stuff sucks, but...we can sort of think of it like a vacation, no?”

“I agree with Caps, everyone should thank me -  _ huff -  _ for this lovely opportunity,” Jankos said sarcastically, struggling to catch his breath while carrying so much weight.

“Come on, guys. It’s nature, you know. The great outdoors, I get that this is a foreign concept, but I think it will be a welcome change of pace. What better way to get your head out of the game,” Fabian replied encouragingly.

“I can think of at least a thousand other ways, none of which involve going outside,” the support brooded as the sun reflected harshly off his exceptionally pale skin. 

Just when Luka was trying to look on the bright side of finally having an excuse to spend one on one time with Miky, the sight of an unmistakable orange and black jacket off in the distance jumbled his thoughts. 

“So, you _did_ pitch the idea to Fnatic,” Luka exclaimed.

Marcin nodded, and Charlie zoomed in on the beads of sweat now forming on his forehead as they continued the trek to their campsite. 

“Then why the hell are  _ we _ here, Grabbz?!”

“Like I said, I thought it would be good for you guys, too. Why let them have all the fun,” the coach laughed at the midlaner’s unthreatening belligerence, “You’re just mad cause Miky has better synergy with Hyli than he does with you.”

Mihael chuckled as he cast a glance in his midlaner’s direction, shaking his head in disagreement. 

Rasmus shuffled ahead faster to go and find Rekkles, leaving the rest of his straggling group behind. 

He ran up on Oskar and Tim first, who were fumbling around, struggling to pitch a tent while an amused Pete filmed their plight and patronized them, much to Selfmade’s annoyance. He panned the camera up as the rival ADC approached from behind.

“Hiya, Caps,” Pete greeted casually.

Oskar spun around defensively to look at the short Danish boy before turning back and raising a brow at Pete, hands on his hips.

“Another one of those “United in Rivalry” set ups, huh? BMW really needs to chill,” he said sarcastically, completely ignoring Caps’ presence. 

Tim quietly acknowledged Rasmus with a barely discernible nod of his head, and Caps knew that was the closest he was gonna get to a greeting from the two of them. Nemesis respected the other midlaner - sure, but after a while, the constant comparison to live up to his name left a bad taste in his mouth. And Oskar was just being his usual tilted self. 

“The other guys are just that way,” Pete indicated, pointing a thumb back over his shoulder, “next clearing over through that patch of woods.”

He grinned to himself as the others came into view, a typical scene of Hyli and Bwipo trying their best while Rekkles stood around like a diva, not actually participating at all. Although, they were making considerable progress compared to the other duo he’d just witnessed. The toplaner and the support were both hard at work driving the stakes into the ground while Martin idly held the top up as if it were making any difference. All three of them immediately abandoned their tent making efforts as soon as they noticed their old teammate walking up, the lot of them closing in for a group hug. For a second, he was transported back to his days on Fnatic, remembering the joyful embraces they shared after a game well played. 

“Heeeeey, buddy,” Gabriël boomed, patting him on the back, “glad to know G2 gets to suffer with us again on content day. Misery loves company.”

“This was all Jankos’ idea. Our whole team is pretty salty about it cause it was supposed to be just your team, but it looks like his plan backfired,” Caps laughed.

“Oh, really? I’m honestly not too bothered by it. I can’t remember the last time I had the chance to do something like this,” he smiled.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to catching some fish, actually. It was always something I enjoyed when I was younger,” Zdravets shrugged.

“I guess I feel more or less the same, but it helps that you’re here,” Rekkles winked slyly. 

\--------------------

G2’s camping space was conveniently located right next to Fnatic’s.  _ Wow, not like they coordinated that or anything, _ Caps mused to himself. 

Perkz dumped an unassembled tent at his jungler’s feet. 

“Have fun with that. Miky and I are going down to the lake,” Luka laughed, walking off with his arm around the support's shoulders before he had any chance to object.

Jankos stood with his mouth agape, looking down at the tent, then up at Grabbz.

“Ty kurwo,” he yelled after them.

“Don’t worry,” Fabian chuckled, “they’re worthless at IRL things. Well, at least Miky is, anyways. I’ve got you,” he offered, beginning to unpack the parts.

“Grabbz, I just want you to know I’m sorry for the way I always talk to you on mic check,” he joked dramatically, “apparently, you’re the only one who cares about me on this team and I’ve been taking it for granted”.

\------------------------------------------------

Eventually, Pete gave in and helped Nemesis and Selfmade out of charity - or maybe it was just that he’d gotten enough content out of their struggle for the time being. Oskar ducked inside of the tent, setting up his sleeping bag. 

“It’s a little snug for two, no?”

The jungler noticed how closely they had to squeeze in both of their bedrolls, barely a foot between his and Tim’s. 

“What kind of budget do you think we have,” Pete laughed, “you’re lucky they didn’t shove me in there, too.”

“No, I think  _ you’re  _ lucky, to be honest,” Tim smirked, “we would’ve made you sleep with G2.”

\------------------------------

Wunder, Charles, Fabian and Jankos had set up their tents in record time and were already off together, trying their hand on the archery range. The jungler instantly regretted betting 20 euros on who could hit the bullseye the fastest, because as it turned out, Martin was naturally very good with a bow and arrow. 

“What the hell? You’re smurfing! There’s no way this is your first time at this.”

“Maybe it’s all the time I’ve spent playing hunters on World of Warcraft,” Wunder shrugged as his shot narrowly missed the center of the target. 

\-------------------------------------

Perkz and Mikyx had made their way over to the lake, sitting on the edge of the dock with their feet dangling just over the water’s surface. Luka admired the side profile of his handsome support in all his glory, the sun shining on his dark brown hair as he looked off into the horizon. Mihael could feel Luka's gaze resting on him, but a part of him was too nervous to glance back. His heart fluttered as he tried to downplay the awkward atmosphere he’d unintentionally created in his mind.

“I guess Caps had a point, it’s pretty nice here, even if he  _ is  _ biased cause he just wants to spend time with his boyfriend,” Miky joked.

“Then I’m biased, too. Because the idea of spending time with you kinda grew on me,” Luka smiled slyly.

Miky was constantly barraged by these types of comments, thrown at him left and right from his teammates on any given day, and his response was always the same - shaking his head, brushing it off. But in that moment he felt compelled to give Luka a taste of his own charm.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a shame that we had to start the day so early. Wish we could skip to the good part.”

The midlaner turned to him, an interested expression on his face.

“And that would be...?”

“Spending the night cuddled up with you in a tent,” Mihael smirked, raising his eyebrows daringly.

Perkz was just opening his mouth to respond when the sound of footsteps approaching on the pier behind them caught his attention. Bwipo and Hylissang were passing by, fishing gear in hand. The toplaner stopped briefly to acknowledge them.

“I realize where we are, but I honestly didn’t expect there to be so many boosted animals around here,” Bwipo teased playfully, smiling down on the pair.

“Yeahh, yeahhhhh. Keep it moving, Gragas. Before the boardwalk collapses under your weight,” Perkz waved him off. 

Down off the end of the dock, Hyli and Bwipo set up some chairs and cast their lines, relaxing and casually exchanging funny stories. It wasn’t long after they had settled in, that Caps and Rekkles rowed up in kayaks. 

“Sup, losers,” Caps teased, lowering his sunglasses comically to stare them down.

“Come on, guys. You’re scaring off all the fish,” Zdravets groaned. 

“Don’t worry, we’re going. We just came by to tell you that Pete has something special planned. We all have to meet at our campsite at 2 o’clock,” Martin explained.

\--------------------------------

“Alrighty, guys. Safety first,” Pete exclaimed as he threw a bin of masks on the ground in front of them. 

“Oooooooo,” Jankos jumped up and down excitedly, the first to take his pick from the masks, “I think I know where this is going...and if it’s what I think, I’m gonna light all your asses up, boys!”

Pete was grinning ear to ear as he opened the next large storage bin, stacked to the brim with canisters of paintballs, various guns and parts. 

“YESSSS! I KNEW IT,” the jungler yelled eagerly.

“Yes, that’s right. Paintball battle royale, Fnatic vs G2 - last man standing wins it for their team,” Grabbz stated.

“What’s the reward this time,” Selfmade asked curiously.

“No, reward. Just bragging rights,” Pete answered.

“Is this the only protection you’re giving us,” Mihael asked, visibly concerned.

“More incentive to not get hit,” Charles laughed.

“Don’t worry, Miky. I will guard you with my life,” Perkz winked, wrapping his arms around his support’s chest as he hugged him from behind. 

“Yeah, don’t worry Miky. I’m about to go FPSRussia on these scrubs. сука блять,” Marcin shouted arrograntly.

Oskar rolled his eyes and scoffed at the opposing jungler.

Both teams geared up, loaded their guns, and headed off to the bunkered playing range.

\--------------------------


	13. Face Check

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More camping shenanigans.

All huddled in their respective bases, the teams took a moment to devise a game plan.

“Ok, so what’s the strategy? How are we gonna split up,” Perkz asked.

“We should probably just stick to our usual laning habits,” Caps shrugged, “you and Miky break right, I go dead ahead, Jankos roams and Wunder takes the left side of the field.”

“Agreed,” Wunder nodded, “and Jankos, you better not come topside because your dumbass will probably get me tagged instantly.”

“What do you mean? I’m the king of the jungle! I have the advantage fighting in this terrain,” he cried indignantly.

“Watch him get lost immediately,” Miky laughed.

\-------------------------

Fnatic stood arm in arm in a circle, the same way they always did to hype each other up before matches. 

“I think it’d be smart to play defensively here, and let those clowns throw the game for us,” Rekkles suggested.

“Yeah, whatever. But if I see their jungler, I’m going for a headshot,” Selfmade said smugly.

“You do realize I’m standing right here, Oskar,” Pete said, “What did we say about headshots?”

“Ugh…No headshots allowed,” the jungler sighed in exasperation.

“Very good,” Pete grinned, “Alright, boys. Have fun out there. Fnatic on three!”

“1, 2, 3 FNATIC,” the group shouted in unison, splitting off randomly to different positions on their side of the field.

\------------------------------------

They were a mere five minutes into the standoff when Marcin got hit. On Fnatic’s side of the battleground, there was a sort of embankment at the spot closest to their base. Selfmade had taken up a sniping post at this vantage point. Jankos was boldly trying to storm their base in what could only be described as the least stealthy fashion imaginable. He wasn’t using anything for cover, standing out in the open, stomping through the brush as fallen leaves and twigs crunched beneath his feet. The noise had alerted the enemy jungler, and as soon as he saw who it was, he pulled the trigger. The paintball exploded just centimeters to the left of Jankos’ groin. A loud and emphatic “kurwa” echoed through the woods. All the other players who didn’t want to give away their positions struggled not to laugh.

After the first shot popped off, both teams cautiously started to advance towards one another. The course was fairly expansive and littered with ditches, walls, and bunkers to use for cover in pockets where the trees were sparse.

“Now we have to avenge that idiot,” Perkz whispered with a smile, even though Mihael couldn’t tell with the bulky mask on.

Together, the two moved in. The sound of some rustling in the undergrowth just ahead caught their attention and they froze in their tracks. Luka peeked out from behind a tree and almost jumped as he saw Rekkles barely five meters away. He let off a shot just before the blonde noticed him, too. It clipped the AD carry just on the shoulder, a mist of neon paint decorating the corner of his black shirt. He raised his hands in surrender, shaking his head as Perkz and Miky waved at him tauntingly.

In the spanse of that distraction, Hylissang barrel rolled out of some nearby thicket, unloading a few shots onto both of them for good measure. 

“That feel when Fnatic is better at paintball than they are on the rift,” Perkz chuckled, as he and his support both headed to the sidelines in defeat with Rekkles in tow. 

At this point Wunder was basically G2’s only hope, because they all sincerely doubted Caps’ ability to perform in a situation like this. The two remaining G2 members remained parallel to each other as they advanced on the opposing base, quite a distance apart, but still within sight.

Nemesis army-crawled guardedly until he was posted up behind a low concrete wall, poking his head around the corner swiftly to check his surroundings. Everything appeared clear at first glance. However, from Oskar’s elevated view, he narrowly caught a glimpse of Caps ducking behind a nearby tree and signalled to his midlaner down below. Nemesis nodded affirmatively as he quietly adjusted his position, gun aimed at Rasmus’ hiding spot. He was ready, finger poised on the trigger, and as soon as Caps tried to rush from the cover of one tree to the next, Tim tagged him on the thigh. 

The Danish boy hopped around on one leg animatedly, gripping the painful spot where he'd been hit. 

“That hurts way more than I thought it would,” he yelped, limping off the field.

Wunder was alone, 3 v 1, and nobody even knew if he was aware that all of his other teammates were out. But Bwipo knew, and he wasn’t afraid to go in one against one. So, in a similar Jankos style, he ran to the bunker where he figured the challenging toplaner would be camping. Coming in at full speed, he slid on his side and unleashed a barrage of paintballs like it was a Miss Fortune ult. But...he had gone for the wrong hiding place, and exposed himself in the process, making an easy target for Wunder, who shot him effortlessly from a nearby bush. The blonde was laughing his ass off at the intense display he’d just witnessed.

“Nice try,” he chuckled. 

Unfortunately, before he had the chance to recollect himself from cracking up at Bwipo’s big fail, both Nemesis and Selfmade arrived on the scene. They surrounded him from different angles, guns raised threateningly. 

“Can we just say you win and skip the part where you shoot me,” Martin reasoned, gun raised to the sky like a white flag. 

All he could see of Tim’s expression was his empty, emotionless eyes behind the mask. That’s when he accepted his fate. 

“Nah,” Tim shrugged, shooting him once in the chest.

“Ow, _fuck_ ,” he hissed, walking it off, “I guess all’s fair in war, or whatever they say.”

All four started to make their way back to regroup with the others, Wunder walking a few paces behind the Fnatic members.

The sudden _pop_ of a shot echoed through the woods and a single paint capsule exploded right on Selfmade’s ass cheek, staining his sweatpants. 

“What the fuck,” the jungler twisted around to face him with a deadly glare. 

The toplaner looked down at his gun, pretending to be confused.

“I dunno,” he smirked, “accidental discharge or something.”

“I’ll fucking accidentally discharge my co-”

Nemesis grabbed Oskar firmly by the arm, interrupting him. 

“He’ll be okay,” Gabriel looked over his shoulder to smile at Wunder, patting Selfmade on the back like a mom trying to diffuse a situation with her problem child, “just a little L9 PTSD, that’s all.”

\---------------------------------

By the time the boys finished a few more rounds, the sun was starting to go down. Everyone made their way back to their “convenient” joint camping area, where Grabbz was already in full chef mode on the grill. Jankos, being the most chaotic out of everyone, took it upon himself to start a huge bonfire for the crowd to hang out around. They all pulled up a chair, casually chatting while they nibbled on burgers and sausages. For being such big rivals, there was an inviting sense of community that they all shared that night. 

“Hey, everybody! Guess what,” Pete called for their attention as they all sat at the fire pit.

“Pleasseeee, no more challenges! I already have like fifty fucking bruises from paintball,” Tim pleaded.

“Yeah, seriously, Pete. My ass is never gonna recover. You should kiss it and make it better,” Oskar smirked.

“It’s a good surprise, guys. We even had to get stuff imported, actually. So, we really hope you all like it,” Pete replied, walking up with a few overstuffed bags.

“Fnatic is  _ importing  _ things? I’m gonna have to talk to Carlos about our budget,” Charlie laughed.

One by one, Pete handed out a metal skewer to all members of both squads.

“What is this for? Are we doing snobrød ,” Caps looked at Pete with excitement sparkling in his eyes.

“Um, I don’t know what that word means, but I can bet that this will be better,” he answered, reaching into one of the bags to dig out more ingredients. 

“S’mores! That’s the surprise,” he said, tossing around a few bags of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. 

“Well, I hope NA food is better than NA players. That’s all I’m gonna say,” Jankos jested.

They all grabbed a marshmallow and started roasting them over the fire, with many disasters ensuing. There were marshmallows going up in flames left and right, and some melting too quickly and falling into the embers. But once they got the hang of it, they all assembled their desserts and gave them a try. 

Perkz smiled at Miky as he struggled with his, sticky marshmallow and chocolate smeared all over his mouth. 

“Let’s see you try,” Mikyx scoffed, grabbing a napkin.

The truth was, no matter how neatly any of them tried to eat theirs, it was simply an impossible task. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a sweet more messy than s'mores.

Mihael laughed as Luka took a bite and the whole piece of chocolate slipped out from between the graham crackers and onto his lap. 

“Shit,” Perkz giggled, mouth still full.

Rekkles softly reached up with a napkin and wiped a little smudge of marshmallow from the corner of Caps’ lips, his gaze lingering there just a second too long. 

“I made this one just for you,” Jankos cooed, looking at Fabian, “As a thank you for helping me with my tent.”

The jungler grinned from ear to ear as he held it up to Grabbz mouth, waiting for him to take a bite. The coach side-eyed him warily before hesitantly taking a small piece. 

“See? It’s good. You can trust me,” he replied.

“If I don’t wake up tomorrow, extradite him back to Poland,” Fabian said grimly.

“That’s it, Grabbz. I’m gonna flame your drafts even harder now,” Marcin teased, “or just pull a Caps and lock in whatever the fuck I want.”

Nemesis leaned in close to Oskar, pressing their cheeks together as they smiled for a selfie, both of their faces covered in marshmallow and chocolate. He’d definitely be posting that to twitter later.

“You’d better @ me,” Selfmade winked, reading his friend’s mind. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Next came the daunting task of fighting over who got to shower first. The coaches and camera staff had at least agreed that the players probably needed it more than them, seeing as all of their clothes were covered in paint. But due to the limited amount of stall showers in the public wash facility, they would have to decide amongst themselves who would get to go and in what order. 

“I will volunteer Miky, Perkz and myself as tribute. We can all shower in the same cubicle to save room,” he laughed, draping his arms over both their shoulders as he stood between them, “we can fit, I think. And if our bodies accidentally rub together, it’s okay cause it’ll help us get clean faster.”

“Wow. I never realized that the G in G2 stood for gachigasm, but ok,” Hylissang chuckled.

As per usual, Selfmade wasn’t about to wait for anyone to tell him what to do, much less mediate with a rival team, so he was long gone, probably already done with his shower by then.

“Honestly, we all know that Rekkles is the highest maintenance out of all of us, so like...just go, dude. It’s fine,” Bwipo encouraged.

The Swede shrugged his shoulders.

“Sounds good. Don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, walking off towards the washroom.

The rest of them worked it out civilly with an old school battle of rock, paper, scissors.

\----------------------------------

Luka and Mihael were laying in their tent, discussing the dream drafts they’d love to play on stage if the opportunity to be experimental presented itself during the summer season. They both fell silent as the shape of a hand pressing into the front of their tent could be seen. It could only be zipped close or open from the inside. 

“Who goes there,” the support said with an animated tone.

“Open up, or I’ll bodyslam this thing with both of you in it.”

Luka laughed and unzipped the corner of the entrance, their jungler’s head popping through. 

“Haha! I bet you thought it was a ghost,” he said dramatically.

“No, but you are more menacing, to be honest,” Mihael deadpanned.

“Can I sleep in here,” he asked plainly.

“It’s a no from me,” Perkz snickered.

“Wunder won’t stop watching world first WoW videos at full volume. Do you know how loud those guild nerds scream when they clear the final boss? It’s ridiculous,” Jankos cried.

Mikyx leaned forward and slowly zipped the flap closed, shutting the jungler out.

“I hope you guys get mauled by a bear or something,” he laughed as he unenthusiastically made his way back to Wunder.

\--------------

Nemesis laid back on his sleeping bag, scrolling through twitter when he remembered the selfie he took with Oskar earlier. He posted it, but for the sake of trolling, he wasn’t gonna tag Selfmade - precisely because he told him to do so. Besides, he knew it would show up in his feed regardless.

The jungler was laying beside him, also distracted by his phone, but not distracted enough to not notice when Tim put on some headphones and began watching LS stream. It irritated him to think that Nemesis would probably rather be duo-queuing with that guy than spending time with him here. He scooted in closer to the midlaner until their shoulders were pressed together, leaning his head against Tim’s to try and watch the screen, too. 

As tempted as Nemesis was to turn his head and look at Oskar, instead he let out a breathy giggle at his childlike behavior as the jungler buried his face into the crook of his neck. Tim shuddered as he felt Oskar’s warm lips brush against his bare skin, intentionally or otherwise. He scrunched his shoulders up close to his ears to try and shield himself. Selfmade pulled away, unsatisfied with the lackluster reaction. He gave up and went back to scrolling through his phone, that was - until he saw Tim’s post on Twitter. 

“First time trying S’mores 🔥 ,” the caption read.

He smirked as he typed out a smartass comment.

“@nemeis_lol That won’t be the only ‘first time’ you’ll be having tonight 😘😈 ”

\------------------------------------------

“Ouch, man. That’s a pretty bad one,” Rekkles said as he brushed his fingers over a paintball bruise on Caps’ collarbone.

“What kind of an asshole would shoot you in the neck like that,” he huffed in disbelief.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure that one was you,” Caps laughed.

“Shit, my bad,” he smiled, pulling Rasmus in close and planting a soft kiss on the black and blue welt. 

\-------------------

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta, we've got bromances popping off left and right in this bitch, idek what happened to the main plot.  
> Are you an American pleb like me? lol. If not, have you ever tried s'mores?  
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy these little side relationships, too <3


	14. What Happens in the Tent, Stays in the Tent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The saucier side of camp shenanigans.

Rasmus felt a wave of heat radiate through his body, originating at the point of contact where Martin’s soft lips touched his skin. The symphony of crickets chirping in the nearby forest seemed to crescendo in the moments they sat there, neither saying a word, eyes closed as they explored each other’s bodies with their hands. There was nothing to illuminate them, save for the moonlight that cast a faint glow through the canvas of the tent. He arched his back, his chest pressing firmly into Martin’s as he felt the blonde’s hand snake its way down to rest just at his tailbone. Their lips collided as if it was the last time they ever would, starving for affection, for more. 

Rekkles hooked the tips of his fingers under the hem of Caps’ shirt, yanking it up and off. He wasted no time refocusing his attention on his exposed chest, running a hand down the center of his sternum before placing haphazard kisses and nips wherever they happened to land. Rasmus winced in pleasure, hissing as the Swede bit him harshly on the side of his neck. He pulled back to look at him, a soft smile gracing his face as he took in the sight of Caps’ intoxicated expression. The ex-midlaner leaned back in for more, greedily kissing Rekkles as he also fumbled to remove the other’s clothes. 

\---------------------------------------------

Nemesis finally exited Twitch when he’d decided he’d seen enough of LS’ stream for the night. He popped open Twitter one last time to check it before trying to get some sleep. Selfmade was rolled over, back turned to Tim. The midlaner didn’t hold back his laughter as he read the jungler’s comment on his post. The sudden outburst startled Oskar a little, and he twisted around to look at his friend, a mixture of both curiosity and irritation in his eyes. Nemesis shook his head, showing his phone to Oskar so he could see what he was reading. 

“Oh,” Oskar smirked, “does this mean you’re taking me up on my offer? Well, it wasn’t really like I was asking. More of a promise,” he said arrogantly.

“You’re so troll,” Tim grinned, setting his phone aside.

“It’s obvious that I should leave your virginity for LS,” he teased.

“Nah. My virginity is exclusively reserved for Kayle,” Nemesis countered. 

Selfmade let out a sigh and clicked his tongue.

“That’s a shame.”

\-------------------------------------------------

At Mihael’s suggestion, and because there wasn’t much else to do in the wilderness this late at night, Perkz had been coerced into watching a few episodes of Re:Zero. Luka wasn’t anti-weeb or anything the way Wunder was, but it wasn’t something he would’ve chosen of his own volition. They huddled together in their sleeping bags, laying on their stomachs with their wrists propping up their heads, Miky’s phone set in the middle. A single set of earbuds was split between them, their cheeks nearly touching as one wire hung from the support’s ear and the other from the midlaner’s opposite. 

“So, what do you think,” Miky asked as they finally stopped their binge run after several episodes. 

“Well, I think your phone has some ridiculous battery life,” Luka smirked.

“The show, you idiot,” Mihael laughed, punching him playfully.

“Felix is best girl, no contest,” Perkz smiled, laying back with his arms crossed behind his head.

Mikyx scoffed emphatically, setting his glasses aside as he rested his head on his pillow.

“I could’ve guessed that.”

“I just watched like four hours worth of anime with you, so I have a right to int, but don’t worry. He might be best girl, but you will always be best boy,” he said, reaching out to pinch one of Miky’s cheeks teasingly.

\--------------------------------------------

Their limbs were entangled, sticky with sweat despite the cool night air that the wind carried in through the breathable material of the tent. Rekkles and Caps had managed to strip each other down to their underwear, the only things left to deprive them of the exhilarating friction that was building between them. Martin was prepared to take it a step further, but he was still hesitating. As much as Rasmus appeared to be ready and willing, there was a quintessential innocence about him that the Swede was afraid of tarnishing. A clandestine brush with a lover might not be something he would put above himself, but he held Caps to a different standard. He broke the impassioned kiss that had seemed to go on endlessly. His hands grasping the ex-midlaner’s small waist, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of this disheveled version of him, so reminiscent of how he looked in the mornings back at the Fnatic house when he would stagger from his room to the bathroom, still half asleep. 

“Hm?”

Rasmus hummed curiously, trying to read the expression on the blonde’s face.

“I’m nervous,” Rekkles smirked, earning a comical look of confusion from the shorter boy.

“Why? Do you think someone will hear us or something?”

“Well, that’s one thing, but no. It’s just - you’re Caps,” he said plainly.

“Yeah? And?”

“It’s like I’ll always see you as Baby Faker. You’re so innocent. It feels like I’m defiling something precious,” he laughed under his breath, partly kidding.

“Hey, it’s been a couple years. You’ve gotta give me some credit. I’m  _ at least _ Teenage Faker by now,” Rasmus chuckled at his own bad joke.

He took one of Rekkles’ hands from his waist and held it with his own, gazing up at him earnestly.

“I want this - and I,” he paused, finding it awkward to be so direct, “and I want it with you.”

Martin tilted his head and sighed, a tiny grin on his lips. The amount of adoration he held for Rasmus showed through honest eyes.

“Who could say no to that?”

They leaned back into their kiss in perfect synchronization, meeting each other in the middle, their bodies reconnecting. The contact of hot skin offering no reprieve from the fire that was burning inside of them. 

\-----------------------------------------

“Do you think anybody is fucking right now,” Perkz asked, not really expecting Miky to answer.

“Didn’t you say yourself that ‘nobody wants to fuck in a tent’,” the support reminded.

“I meannnnn...I would make an exception for you, Miky,” he said slyly, rolling over to check for his reaction.

Mihael could only offer his usual look of skepticism, but Luka could have sworn he was blushing.

“It must be such a drag, huh? With everyone on the team always simping for you,” the AD carry added sarcastically.

“You can’t say  _ everyone _ \- you and Jankos are the only weirdos.”

“In that case, who is winning,” Perkz asked curiously.

“Well,” he paused to laugh, “Jankos tries harder.”

Luka pouted for a moment, pretending to be heartbroken.

“If that’s the means of comparison, then I’m doomed because Jankos is extra with everything,” he grinned.

Mikyx matched Perkz’s smile, shrugging his shoulders dramatically.

“Guess you’ll just have to step up your game,” he replied suggestively.

\--------------------------------------------------

Selfmade was almost surprised how quickly Tim had fallen asleep. He laid there, admiring how peaceful his teammate looked. His eyes drifted from his fluffy, unkempt hair, and rested on his slightly parted lips, which were naturally flushed pink against his hauntingly pale complexion. The jungler’s gaze wandered down, watching his chest rise and fall with every breath. There was a pull, some instinct there to reach out and touch him, but Oskar resisted. Instead, he let out a long exhale, flipping onto his back and whispering under his breath.

“I can’t believe he’s already out…”

“It’s easier to fall asleep in good company,” Nemesis mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes.

“I should’ve known - it’s not humanly possible to pass out that fast,” Oskar smiled, “...glad to know I qualify as good company.”

“I was talking about my wife,” Nemesis smirked, drowsily waving his OnePlus.

He cracked open his heavy eyes to take in Selfmade’s unimpressed expression, only breaking into stifled laughter when he saw this.

“I’m sorry,” Tim chuckled, scooting himself and his entire sleeping bag cocoon right up against his friend as an act of truce.

He looked up at the still very unamused jungler.

“Okay,” he bargained, “what if I told you that you’re the only thing in this whole world that I like more than OnePlus?”

“More than Kayle and your boyfriend LS, too,” Oskar asked roguishly. 

“Now you’re just griefing,” Nemesis laughed, shaking his head.

Selfmade melted despite himself, breaking at the sight of Nemesis giggling. He extended an arm out of his partially unzipped sleeping bag and pulled his midlaner in even closer. His chin rested lightly on top of Tim’s head. The smaller boy nuzzled into his neck. 

\----------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **** The Re:Zero reference, Felix is a trap character. Just fyi lol
> 
> I AM SORRY TO HAVE KEPT YOU WAITING FOR THIS MEASLY BS CHAPTER.   
> But as you can see... it's popping off, so....I tend to procrastinate when I know smut is coming and this is...A LOT.


	15. The End???

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The camping trip comes to a close.

“Rise and shine, guys!” 

Miky and Perkz woke up to the sound of Jankos’ characteristically loud voice booming just outside of their tent. At first, they tried to sleep through it, hoping that if they ignored him long enough, he would just go away. But then again, it was Jankos they were dealing with. He rattled the tent, trying to wake them more vigorously.

“Better start packing or we’ll leave you behind. Ok, well- not Miky, because he’s too handsome. But I won’t hesitate to leave you, Luka,” he laughed.

“Fuck you,” Perkz yawned. 

\--------------------------------

Bwipo and Hylissang had already woken up early to get in one last session of fishing before they left. As they made their way back to the campsite, they ran into Pete who was disassembling his tent.

“Oh, hey. You mind helping me wake up the others,” he asked.

“Pfft! We’ll try,” Bwipo laughed.

They split up, Zdravets going to Caps and Rekkles’ tent and Gabriel heading towards Nemesis and Selfmade. Despite how well Bwipo and Hyli got along, their difference in personality was evident in the way they each chose to wake their teammates. 

“Rekkles, Caps,” the support called gently, “it’s time to get up.” 

No stirring inside.

“Come on,” he shook the tent gently until he heard Martin grumble something unintelligible.

That was good enough for him. He shrugged, strolling back towards his own tent to finish breaking it down. 

Bwipo, meanwhile, had given up on shouting at his colleagues through the thin canvas. 

“I’m warning you! I’ll go full Gragas on your tent with both of you inside,” he boomed.

“You fucking won’t,” Selfmade’s tired voice taunted him from inside.

With that, the toplaner leaned into their tent, the pliable poles bending under his weight as the tent slowly collapsed beneath him. As the whole thing came down, he had managed to pin down one of the occupants, who was cursing and trying to kick him off through the fabric. Moments later, an extremely bed-headed and disheveled Nemesis unzipped his way out of the dilapidated entrance to glare at their attacker. 

“Oh, good. I’m glad I landed on the right person,” Bwipo grinned.

“It’s too early for this,” Nemesis said, no life in him at all.

The jungler dug his knee up into Gabriel’s ribs and he grunted in discomfort.

“There ya go, that one had some energy behind it! Up and at ‘em,” Bwipo said enthusiastically.

When he finally stood up, the tent sprang back into shape as he did, freeing the trapped Oskar underneath.

\----------------------

Rekkles smiled at Caps as he grumbled, clearly fighting with himself to wake up, but his sleepiness was winning the battle. His eyes fluttered open, but closed again as Martin placed a soft kiss on his forehead. 

“Hnnnnnnn,” Rasmus stretched out, kicking the covers off of himself.

As he did so, the blonde admired every inch of his body. The pale skin of his hips became exposed as his arms reached over his head, pulling up his shirt slightly. It took all of Martin’s willpower to peel his gaze away. 

“We’d better get moving,” he said, already rolling up his sleeping bag, “before they leave us behind.”

Caps pushed himself up into a sitting position, eyes still shut, and began to get changed. He was running on a fully automated mode, one where he could function without actually having to wake up.

“I can’t wait to nap in the car,” he mumbled, “I just wish you could come back with us.”

“I know. Me, too,” Rekkles sighed. 

\-------------------------------------------------------

Mihael reached to put on his glasses and start getting ready, considering Luka was already fully packed. He was positive he’d left them right by his pillow before bed, but they were nowhere to be found. He sat up, checking under his pillow, then under his blankets in a mild panic.

“Looking for something,” Perkz said coolly from his side of the tent.

Miky looked up, and even though his vision was blurry, he could make out the shape of  _ his  _ glasses on the AD carry’s face. Luka smirked, acting none the wiser as he scrolled through his phone.

“Wow, Miky you are  _ so _ blind. How do you live like this?”

“You wore glasses, too. You should know. Give them back,” he inched forward, swiping to grab them from him.

“Make me,” he replied as he dodged him, cocky as usual, “or should I be like Jankos and try to bargain with you?”

“I shouldn’t have to bargain for my own shit.”

“I’m Jankos. I’m a simp for Miky. If you give me a kiss, I’ll give you your glasses back,” Luka laughed, imitating their jungler’s thick, Polish accent.

The support hastily leaned in, planting a soft peck on Luka’s lips. If he blinked, he might have missed it, but it gave Mihael just enough cover to snatch his lenses back from his teammate. Perkz sat there, looking bewildered for a moment or two.

“What,” Miky asked as if nothing had happened, immediately going right back to packing his things.

“Those tactics never worked for Jankos, so, that was pretty unexpected. But I’m not complaining. GG,” he smiled charmingly.

\-----------------------

Wunder had been one of the first members awake that morning, not necessarily by choice but because sharing a tent with Jankos means that you wake up when he wakes up. The jungler was possibly the least subtle person he’d ever known, so even if he was trying to be quiet as he changed and exited the tent, he failed miserably. The top laner had recently rigged his phone to be able to play WoW Classic, which was helping him kill some time while he waited in the van for the others. Charlie, Jankos, and Grabbz were already in their seats, too. Their chatter was drowned out by Wunder’s headphones, much to his relief. 

They watched from the car as Caps and Rekkles hugged each other tightly before waving goodbye. 

“That’s so cute. Aren’t they cute, Wunder,” Jankos clapped excitedly.

Wunder ignored him, of course.

Caps hopped into the car, taking his place in the backseat next to the top laner. Jankos patted his shoulder enthusiastically, holding up an invisible microphone in his hand like a reporter.

“So, how does it feel to be dating the most handsome - I mean  _ second _ most handsome player in the LEC right now? Sorry, can’t forget about Miky,” he laughed, extending the imaginary mic to Rasmus.

“No paparazzi until I’ve had my freshly squeezed orange juice,” the midlaner chuckled, pushing his hand away.

Mikyx and Perkz finally made their way over. The ADC climbed in the back, taking up the last seat in that row. The jungler quickly shoved a backpack in the last remaining seat beside him.

“Ohhhh nooooo, Mikyyy,” Jankos said sarcastically, “all the spots are gone. Such a shame. Looks like you have to sit on my lap.”

The support shook his head, a small smile on his lips as he scooted right into the back without a second thought, settling on Luka’s lap. Perkz wrapped his arms around his waist, hugging him in close like a personal seatbelt. 

“Wow. So cold,” Marcin laughed it off.

With everyone ready to go, they began their journey back to the gaming house. Everyone in the car felt relieved to be rid of content day, but at the same time sad that it was over. The breaks between seasons were always so fleeting. Just like their short trip. Two days prior, Caps never would’ve guessed they’d be going camping. Two months prior and Rasmus could never have foreseen overcoming his war with Hanahaki. 2 years prior, never would have pictured himself walking onstage in a G2 jersey. Every day brings something new, and a lot of times, these aren’t expected changes. But the struggles aren’t the important part. The only things that matter are the outcomes these changes bring. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the end??? The ending feels rushed and cheesy, but I realized that there wasn't gonna be anymore conflict and I didn't want to commit too much exposition to the other ships because this would become a whole other story. The Rekkaps was just domestic fluff at this point, which for me, is boring to write. 
> 
> Thanks SO MUCH for following along, and for all of your kudos and comments. <3
> 
> Forgive me for not writing anything explicit. Maybe I'll save that for a oneshot. Pls drop any prompts in the comments, can be any ship from these teams idec.


End file.
